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S=Th(;mas in ecstasy in the Cctthedral clioii’ al Valencia 
(luiniKjj Divine Office before Mass. HomanBm-iary. 






















































1 


THE LIFE 




£- 


OF 


ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 


ARCHBISHOP OF VALENTIA AND AUGUSTINIAN FRIAR. 

vih 

^ I- 7H ^ 

With an Introductory Sketch of 

ltl^6 Hen, ||nntttrs,anb Up ||oiiaI$ 

OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 


“QAtlDR MARIA VTBOO, OUNOTA8 HABRE8K8 SOLA INTERBMiaTl 
IN UNiVJtttBO uuni>o.''-‘Antiphon oj the (JhuTGh. 


FIRST AMERICAN EDITION; 


PHILADELPHIA: 4 



PETER F. CUNNINGHAM & SON, 29 SOUTH TENTH STREET. 

1874. 












Thb Library | 
OF Congress 

^MSEONOTON 




PERMISSU SUPERIORUM. 


Entered according ta Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 


PETER F. CUNNINGHAM & SON, 

In the oflBce of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. 0. 
























3 d/a s 


CONTENTS 


THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


Introductory and Historical Sketch 


PAGE. 

7 


PART I. 

CHAPTER. 

I.—Of the Birth of St. Thomas of Villanova, and the 
inclination to assist the poor which he displayed 
in his early youth . 75 

II, —He is sent to study at the University of Alcala, and 

makes rapid progress in virtue and learning. 82 

III, —He takes the habit in the Order of St. Augustine... 88 

IV, —Of his conduct in the observance of the rules after 

his profession, and of his eleva4,ion to the priest¬ 
hood. 94 

V.—He teaches theology at Salamanca. 101 

VI.—Of the wonderful talent for preaching that God 

bestowed on St. Thomas of Villanova. 110 

VII.—Of the great virtues with which the Saint accompa¬ 
nied his preaching. 117 

VIII.—Continuation of the same subject, with some exam¬ 
ples. 122 

IX.—Of his conduct in the religious offices imposed on 

him. 131 

X.—St. Thomas is elected Provincial twice consecutively 

in two different provinces. 139 

XI.—St. Thomas is allied in friendship with those only 
whom he knows to be virtuous and faithful ser¬ 
vants of God. 147 

XII.—St. Thomas refuses the Archbishopric of Granada, ‘ 
and accepts tliat of Valentia. 155 


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INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL SKETCH 


OF THE TIMES OP 

ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


In giving to the public the Life of a Saint, it 
will not be out of place, in order to have a just 
idea of the part he played in God’s creation, to 
also give a brief sketch of the age he lived in ; to 
show what manner of men were in his time; what 
they did and how they lived; to picture their ways 
and describe their aims, and to point out their 
failures and extol their triumphs. 

For in taking up the history of any one country 
or era, and viewing carefully its several phases, we 
cannot fail to note that it is the men that always 
make the age what it is, and not the age, the men; 
that all great events, no matter how diverse in 
themselves, cluster naturally around those who 
were the chief actors in the scene, just as hills, in 
the physical world, group themselves around some 
giant peak, and get their name from it. On them, 
it first shadows its mighty form, and only after it 
receives the first rays of the rising sun, do they, 
in proper turn, gain whatever light, prominence, 
or interest they may have. So, in like manner, 
are great men, sages, prophets, warriors, heroes. 



8 Introductory and 

and especially the saints,—the central points, as 
it were—of the events of their day. They it is, 
that by their virtues, their wisdom, their heroism, 
their many excellences of mind and heart, and by 
their holiness of life, tower far above the greatest 
of their race. Their minds are ever close wrapt 
in sweet communion with the Lord; their life, 
redolent of all the beauty of the Eternal One, and 
in it do they present to us a diorama of all in 
human life that is pleasing, instructive, or necessary 
for us to know. In a word, all they do, tells of 
the Spirit within, which quickens them in all good 
deeds, and gives them the power to light and 
guide their fellow-men. 

Wherefore it is that, in God’s own world of 
grace. His saints are likened—in the words of 
Holy Writ—unto great mountains, that break in 
here and there upon the view, give relief to the 
otherwise unbroken and unpicturesque plain of 
history, and serve as landmarks to fix our minds 
on things and not on self. Great men we can 
understand—of themselves, events—only through 
and after them. To call to mind some facts from 
story to exemplify our theme, we shall cull two or 
three from the several chief eras of the world. In 
them we shall find that, in the life of some one 
saint or other, has been illustrated in turn every 
virtue, natural or inspired; that every phase of 
human life, either in its refinement in learning or 
in its advance in civilization, has been improved 
by them, chastened and reformed; in a word, that 
every stage of society, religious, political, or 


Historical Sketch 


9 


domestic, has been moulded on their life, and 
become through them God-serving, humane and 
peaceful. 

In the olden time, among God’s people, in Egypt, 
and in the Desert, was Moses. The reader of the 
history of that day can scarcely think of them 
without thinking too of him. Indeed, to do so 
would cost us mighty effort at the least, nor even 
then would our picture of the children of Israel, 
so despoiled of its main figure, be complete, or our 
acquaintance with Jewish history exact. And 
what Moses was in one era, Solomon was in 
another. How closely linked is not his name with 
whatever there was of wisdom, piety, law, and re¬ 
ligion among the Jews! and with God’s Temple! 
symbol of the Divine beauty, reared alone at Jeru¬ 
salem, sole and solitary, among the nations of 
the earth who knew Him not. And that warrior- 
saint, Judas of the Maccabees, and the host of 
others, women, men, children, of less repute, Saul, 
Absalom, the young Tobias, Rebecca the comely, 
Sarai the saintly matron, Susanna the chaste, 
the prudent Esther, Judith the heroine, or Ruth 
the industrious house-wife — how ill-instructed 
would not we be without all memory of them I 
Without some mention at least of them, how bare 
would not the picture be of God’s people! how 
bereft of all color, hue, and shade, and of every 
beauty that graces the maiden, or dignifies the 
matron, or exalts the hero! Without these we 
could have no insight of the many causes which 
at that time brought forth to the world the bravest 
of warriors, the wisest of statesmen, and the most 


lO Introductory and 

gifted of Saints, whose names have come down to 
even our times as symbols of the golden era of our 
race. And again—in the history of the Christian 
era, how closely intertwined are not the Apostles 
with the birth and spread of the new Law! Peter 
in Judea, Paul among the Gentiles, Andrew in 
Epirus, Luke in Achaia, John at Ephesus, Thomas 
in India, Mark in Italy, Philip in Phrygia, Bartholo¬ 
mew in India, Matthew among the Parthians, Jude 
in Mesopotamia, and James in Judea. How im¬ 
portant are not all these to our conception of the 
history of the New Faith ! Without them, how 
little we can value the sublimest traits in man! 
how little can we know, at all, the best that man 
can do! Yet with them, how clear it reads to us I 
how glorious! how divine! With them, every¬ 
thing that improves the heart, or instructs the 
mind—religion, faith, heroism, morals, customs, 
manners, all gleam along on our memory, together 
with the fair display of their own heroic gifts, of 
their power and constancy, of their energy and 
faith, along with their sufferings—by fire, by the 
sword, and with their triumphs over every device 
of a tyrant’s rage to thraP a martyr’s zeal. With 
them all of these rise up from the distant horizon 
of the past, and floating onward like the white 
cloud and pillar of fire that guided the Israelites 
through the Desert to the mountains of the pro¬ 
mised land, point out to us the way to tread; and, 
under their guidance, and with their spirit in us, we 
toil along in thought, pace by pace, backward 
from century to century through all the mighty 


Historical Sketch. 11 

past, painfully, yet surely, till with eye fixed steadily 
on the goal, and heart throbbing with mingled awe 
and love, we go with them up the straight steeps 
of Calvary, and stand with them entranced before 
the great Master Figure on the Cross. In very 
truth, the history of the Church would read but 
bare without some mention, brief though it be, but 
still a passing greeting to the memory of those 
who were the leading actors in the scene,—the souls 
of the great drama which began at Calvary, and 
continued from there to the four quarters of the 
earth; of those who inspired to the world new 
life, fresh being; who brought light to the mind and 
love to the heart, who converted even where they 
did not pass, and who blessed, even where they did 
not convert. To leave these, and such as these, 
out from history, would be to present to our mind 
a mere skeleton, a thing bereft of flesh and blood; 
naked, cheerless, with no glow of feeling to mag¬ 
netize our heart, nor light of truth to quicken our 
thoughts to Heaven. It would lack of life, and no 
lesson could be learned. As well might one try to 
sketch on canvass a summer’s scene without the sun, 
or describe a land, and yet leave untold all about the 
noble features which give it interest; its mountain 
ranges, grand and solemn, that treasure beneath 
their crests the wealth of empires; or its rivers, 
that like mighty arteries, beat and throb with the 
life-blood of the land, and bear the nation’s hopes 
upon their bosom. What the Old World then 
would be without its Ararat, its Sinai, its Horeb, 
its Thabor, or its Calvary, that would the history 


12 Introductory and 

of any other land or epoch be without some 
mention of its warriors, its heroes, its sages, and its 
saints. It is, therefore, that all readers of history 
connect the memory of great events with the 
names of the prime actors who took part in them. 
We remember the one only by connection with 
the other. If we read of more modern deeds, as 
of the Crusades of the Middle Ages, do not they 
come down to us with the memories, and even the 
names of the great, who lived and fought and 
suffered in them for the Faith ? Of Peter the 
Hermit? Of St. Bernard? Of Pope Urban the 
Second? Of Godfrey of Bouillon, and of a host 
of others that took prominent part in them ? Or, 
if we dwell for a time on that other war against 
the Moslem, in the XVIth century, in Pannonia, in 
Austria, at Buda, at Belgrade, at the gates of 
Italy, at Rhodes, and at Malta, can we refrain from 
thinking of the heroes Hunniades and Scanderbeg, 
or of that model of Christian chivalry, the Grand¬ 
master, La Vallette? Again, in the matter of those 
other crusades of much earlier date, of the cru¬ 
sades against the Arians—heretics, who denied 
our Lord’s divinity; or of those against the fol¬ 
lowers of Nestorius, who, in impugning the divinity 
of Christ, would fain have stripped the fairest 
diadem from off His mother’s brow, who is there 
but recalls too to mind the great adversary of the 
first—St. Hilary of Poictiers, or St. Athanasius, and 
the opponent of the other—St. Cyril, him of Alex¬ 
andria? and St. Jerome, who wrote against the 
errors of Helvidius, and our holy Father Augus- 


Historical Sketch, 


13 


tine, who vanquished the Donatists, and St. Peter 
Chrysologus, who preached against the Eutych- 
ians ? Truly did the Faith, whether in Rome or 
in Jerusalem, in Corinth or in Carthage, in Greece 
or in Gaul, lack not valiant defenders against its 
foes, its Christian knights of the pen and the 
tongue—zealous, trusty, skilled in every weapon 
of the brain, who like their brother knights of the 
sword, in after times, fought, step by step, inch by 
inch, in the North and^the East, in the South and the 
West, from one corner of the world to the farthest 
off, all who would offer the slightest insult to their 
Mother’s name, or breathe a whisper even against 
that Mother’s Son. With lessons such as these, 
with the memories of such men as these were— 
men, who believed their faith, and fought too for 
their belief—what lessons may we not learn ? 
Admiration only for their faith, or wonder at their 
zeal, or commendation for their energy, or glory in 
their triumphs, would almost be an insult to their 
name. ’Tis not for this alone they lived, and 
gained the crown, nor is it to the pupil’s good to 
admire solely the master’s learning and praise his 
virtue, unless, too, the lesson taught by him be 
learned and studied, and put in practice, if the sole 
benison obtained by him be solely information for 
the mind, and not improvement too of heart, time 
and toil is all lost, and the history of such saints 
might as well not have been written. 

So natural, too, is it for man to group even 
instinctively all great events around their chief 
exponents, that we find this true, not only in the 


14 Introductory and 

order of grace, but also in that of the intellect. By 
inquiry we shall find that all the varied excellence 
of human genius, the arts and sciences, eloquence, 
jurisprudence, painting, music, poetry or letters, 
is dedicated, in a manner, to the manes of him 
that either first excelled in such, his chosen sphere, 
or, who at least, most outshone his rivals in it. 
Hence poetry is usually modelled after Homer’s, 
while the painter follows Raphael; music has its 
Mozart; in eloquence, the mastery is conceded to 
Demosthenes; in statesmanship to Richelieu, and 
in the drama to Shakspere. 

Moreover, even in civil story, no nation, no 
people that has not had its favorite patron—always 
a Christian and sometimes a saint—whose name 
was taught the infant lisping on its motlTer’s knee, 
and youth, to look on as the synonyme of all that’s 
good and brave and true—a very incarnation, as it 
were, of what is best in human nature when tem¬ 
pered by union with Divine grace. Such in Switz¬ 
erland was Tell; in Britain, St. George; in Ireland, 
St. Patrick; Saint Denys in France; San lago in 
Spain; in Germany, St. Boniface; and in each 
other land, its own. 

No station in life these did not grace, nor rank 
they did not adorn, nor virtue they did not conse¬ 
crate. St. Louis of France, on one throne, is the 
patron of the Christian ruler, and St. Casimir of 
Poland on another, the model of kingly virtue; at 
the domestic fireside, St. Elizabeth of Hungary or 
St. Cunegunda of the Goths, shows us how great 
the Christian woman can be, even though a 


Historical Sketch, 


15 


queen; in service outshines all others of her 
sphere, St. Zita of Lucca; in the army, St. Sebas¬ 
tian, model of soldierly valor; and in the galley, 
St. Vincent of Paul, exemplar of the Divine sym¬ 
pathy for the unfortunate. And so, whether 
under pagan despot or Christian ruler, whether in 
Catholic land or under Protestant sway, it matters 
little, wherever was a Christian saint, in the pulpit 
or in the rostrum, in the workshop or in the pal¬ 
ace, in the dungeon or in the desert, there was a 
philanthropist, a patriot, a hero, inspiring new life 
into his people, virtue into youth, and into old age 
constancy. Even more, in every tropic and in 
every land, from Cathay to the Pillars of Hercules, 
or from Ethiopia to Hammerfest, has the name of 
the Catholic .Saint, the Catholic hero, left engraven 
on high to ages yet to come, an earnest of what 
human skill, human industry, human genius can 
do when the heart is directed by grace to God. 
Yet from such love for one’s patron, there springs 
—at times, ’tis true,—a kind of holy selfishness, 
as the case may be, an innocent partiality for one’s 
own patriot saint, not that we ever seek to dispar¬ 
age another’s choice, but that we strive each to 
make out his own the best. Yet the selfishness 
may be condoned, so long as virtue is the product, 
for while their memories remain fresh and green 
in our bosoms, wisdom will always be worshipped, 
true patriotism ever cherished, and virtue yearned 
for constantly and wisely put in practice. Their 
memories cannot but direct us onward in the same 
path they trod; they will guide us up the steeps 


16 Introductory and 

themselves once climbed, and the result will as 
certainly be, that what men once did in their own 
times, others will as surely do in theirs. 

It is only of recent date that a traveller to the 
East, one learned in languages, yet who had in 
vain thirsted to find the key to the hitherto unde¬ 
ciphered language of the Assyrians, discovered 
it, at a glance, outside the walls of Teheran, in 
far-off Persia, where, high up upon a mountain¬ 
side, apparently beyond the reach of human hand, 
on the hard, bare rock, it was sculptured on two 
huge colossal tablets, the history of the Grecian 
Cyrus, written on one in Ancient Greek, on the 
other, side by side, in the long-lost and long- 
looked-for tongue. 

So in other ways beside, does the learner read 
best with eyes turned upward. He who lives on 
the plain, has at times only a fair chance to see 
the heavens in all their beauty. The atmosphere 
is usually too dense, and mists and vapors some¬ 
times hide from view what we would seek, and 
always dim the sight; while on the mountain, all 
is clear, the air truthful, the prospect vast, and 
nature in her grandest mood. So it is that he who 
seeks for learning, wisdom, or virtue, must per¬ 
force look upward—to the saints—to read his 
lesson. Like mountain, summits that rear their 
head above the clouds of earth, they only are free 
from all the petty meannesses of life, from spite, 
distrust and pride—vices that so often dim our 
brain to P'aith, and cloud our better sense from 
virtue. 


Historical Sketch. 


17 


Yet if we can boast of great saints in the history 
of the world, we have little ones too—studding 
here and there—in their own quiet, unpretending 
way, the plain of history. Little, because they are 
not so conspicuous to the reader as their better 
known brethren, but none the less endeared to 
Him, who sees and notes what the most of us 
pass by. Little, because their virtues were virtues 
chiefly of the heart, that is, of modesty, that 
shunned the eye of man; of love of solitude and 
prayer, that thrives best in the cell, in the her¬ 
mitage, and in the desert; of kindliness in word, 
that most affects the poor; of trustiness in deed, 
of prudence in conduct, and greatest, methinks, 
of all, the virtue of wishing neither to be seen nor 
heard of men. Such was the holy Armand-Jean, 
reformer of La Trappe, and the blessed Benoit 
Labre, the humble beggar-man of Rome; and she, 
so dear to the pious souls of our own day. Sister 
Saint Marie Alacoque—tender-hearted patroness 
of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Other saints 
were humble in all their greatness, while these— 
but lowly and hidden ones—were chiefly great in 
their humility. On those the gaze of all men was 
constantly riveted through life, partly in admiration 
for their gifts, or again in reverence for their 
sanctity; they were the monarchs that dictated to 
the age they lived in, giants in intellect that 
swayed the world of letters; that filled libraries; 
that formed schools; that ruled nations, leaving 
the spell of their genius on the laws, the manners, 
and the triumphs of their day. But these, in all 


18 Inti'oductory a?id 

else just as dear to the heart of our Lord, shrank 
away from such seemingly rude contact with the 
world. Like tender flowers, they would rather lie 
nestling out of sight, away from the cold, rough 
blasts of human applause, like Mary of old, who 
shunned the giddy populace of Bethany, wishing 
the rather to deck her home with His Presence 
alone, and content alone with it. 

Somehow or other it seems too that the Church 
is so identified with these, as the exponents of 
Her inner beauty, of that mystical interior loveli¬ 
ness, that so well befits the daughter of the King, 
quiet, unassuming, meditative, ecstatic, full of all 
the graces of the soul, without any, even the slight¬ 
est spot or blemish, that to rub out their names 
from the calendar would be to rob us of what 
should be to us peculiarly endeared. For who 
dares rival such paragons in grace as the Apos¬ 
tles in their zeal—as the Doctors in their wisdom— 
as the Evangelists in their unction of soul—as the 
martyrs in their constancy,—or as the greatest of 
God’s saints in all their supremacy of virtue? 
This we may not aspire to. The aim were far too 
lofty for such as we to try. For us then it solely 
rests to follow some humbler path to glory—to 
creep where others soar—to be content with a 
mediocrity, as it were, of what will nevertheless 
render home brighter, the conscience more at 
peace with its Maker, and yet the guerdon, none 
the less assured. Because holy Armand-Jean at 
La Trappe could chastise the flesh with terrible 
fasts, and go for live-long nights without any 


Historical Sketch, 


19 


sleep; because the saintly beggar-man Labre, wan¬ 
dered from door to door for a crust of bread, or a 
sip of water, or because St. Vincent of Paul visited 
poor prisoners at the galleys, and chatted gayly 
with them for hours on subjects seemingly trivial, 
yet taking his chance now and then to plant some 
homely Christian truth in those rough breasts that 
were scarcely ever soothed saved by ribald jest or 
vent of spleen; or again, because at times he would 
gather little homeless children around him in the 
street, and prattle with them for the hour on their 
own childish themes, and teach them the while 
how much he sympathized with them in their 
fancied woes, and then would love them all the 
more because they knew no mother; these, and 
such other lessons as these, so easy looking, that 
we all think any one of us can do, are the very 
ones we most have need to learn. We are in¬ 
clined the rather to w^onder that there are not 
more saints. To become one, does not seem at 
all to tax one’s strength, and though the particu¬ 
lar phase of some saint’s holiness may not always 
charm and draw instinctively others onward to 
imitation, still their sanctity really does not intimi¬ 
date us. If, then, we do not better, we ourselves 
are the first to recognize that the fault lies simply 
in that w'e will not take the trouble to follow the 
path to heroism that reason points out so clear, 
and that grace so softly illumines. To see Laz¬ 
arus in the Gospel, and to sympathize with him at 
the table of the rich man, so long as he remains 
where he is, in Paradise, all are willing; but as 


20 Introductory aiid 

soon as he appears among us, in our company, 
then the mask of sanctity falls, and we spurn and 
despise him whom we are ready to pity, but only 
at a distance, and so we lose the crown almost 
within our grasp, the victory that is almost won. 

These humbler saints teach us the same virtues 
too as did the Apostles and the martyrs, though 
not in so open a manner. For they were inspired 
to conceal the gifts of the King; these, to witness 
them publicly. Their light shone only before the 
Father in secret; of these from the tops of moun¬ 
tains. The trust of holy St. Agatha among the 
praetor’s minions was undoubtedly as whole-souled 
as St. Peter’s, only this is in the Gospel which all 
men read, the other only in a history but little 
known. Again, the constancy of B. Juliana de 
Falconeriis under sufferings from all manner of 
ills, and of the blessed Augustinian nun, Christine 
of Lucoli, with her unceasing aching of the teeth, 
was as much the result of divine strength on their 
part as was the heroic patience of St. Stephen at 
Jerusalem, whom the Jews stoned to death; or, was 
the spirit of penitence in St. Anthony of Egypt of 
greater merit than the blessed Clare’s of Monte 
Falco, who went whole days, as St. Catherine of 
Sienna did for entire months, without meat or 
drink ? And, though angels (as is well known) 
comforted the great St. Nicholas of Tolentine for 
months before his death with their celestial song, 
and were even heard of men, yet may we not sur¬ 
mise, and that too in full accord with Catholic 
teaching, that the dying moments of many others 


HistoHcal Sketch, 


21 


besides, whom we see pass away from earth wholly 
absorbed in thought, and almost ecsta'ic in their 
calmness, are consoled too by the like sweet com¬ 
mune with heaven ? This class of saints, they of 
the inner life, are therefore wholly indispensable to 
the Christian world. They bridge, in a manner, 
the chasm between our exceeding laxity and the 
world-known heroism of the master saints, and this 
same service^bleness of theirs is their chief claim 
to our love and veneration. Their life seems so 
comforting, their triumphs so easily gained, that 
with their guidance we are almost coaxed to follow 
where otherwise we would despair. Such then is 
the admirable economy in the Divine thirst for 
souls, that has in His bounty raised up saints, 
whenever need demands, on the throne or in the 
republic, in the workshop or in the school; some 
as patrons over asylums for the ills of man, while 
others mark each phase of life, of human industry 
and toil, with its appropriate virtue,—guardians to 
the slave, of hope; of perseverance, to the scholar; 
and of justice, to the ruler; patrons in each branch 
of study, as was St. Cecily, patroness of song; St. 
Catherine of Alexandria, of philosophy; and of 
theology, St. Theresa; while all are so graded that 
no two offer us the like characteristics, either of 
mind or heart, so that every Christian, whatever 
his rank, slave or monarch, or whatever his state, 
cultured or unrefined, may have his protector—St. 
Sebastian, patron of the soldier; St. Aloysius of 
youth, St. Pancras of childhood, St. Agnes of the 
maiden, St. Maxima of Africa of the virgin-wife. 


22 Introductory and 

and St. Monica of the matron. Thus too has 
Divine Providence raised up saints among the 
children of the new Faith, not only to symbolize 
some one single virtue, but to portray each fairest 
trait in man, while at times too. He exalts others 
in whom seems to have been concentrated all that 
is grandest, holiest, and noblest in our race; ora¬ 
cles of wisdom, of learning, and of holiness, who 
seem to have been born only to recall the zeal of 
the Apostles, the fervor of the Evangelists, the 
inspiration of the Doctors, who possess the mar¬ 
vellous acumen of a Socrates, the resistless elo¬ 
quence of a Demosthenes, or the fervid imagery 
of a Homer, and who, like Alexander of Macedon, 
leave the world only after they conquer it. These 
were such masters, in their way, as to triumph 
equally over the heretic that would ruin, or the 
schismatic that would rend the seamless vesture 
of the Son of God. Such a one was the “Angel 
of the Schools” in the Xlth century, and the 
“Eagle of Africa” in the Vth, men of such gigantic 
mould—statesmen, rulers, reformers, who could 
sway an empire as easily as dictate to gram¬ 
marians; write on the Trinity of the Eternal One, 
or delve into the musty records of a Varro; lay 
down laws to philosophers, or direct a monastery. 
Such were St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom in 
the IVth century, sole masters, in the East, in the 
realm of thought, as were St. Augustine and St. 
Thomas in the West. 

And thus while each science had its patron, 
wisdom its exponent, and virtue its champion, so 


Historical Sketch. 


23 


had each vice its Nemesis. These too were the 
Saints. For it is but natural that virtue should 
ever combat with uncleanness, and truth with error. 
Hence, while the Church of God fosters one, she 
must, and always does, war on the other. She 
would not else be the Spouse of Him whose Spirit 
is ever quickening her to piety and holiness in 
every age, even unto the consummation of ages. 
Wherefore the first war—that of Michael the Arch¬ 
angel against Lucifer—the first war of humility 
against pride, was merely the skirmishing attack 
of the great campaign to be carried on in after 
times between the spirits of good and evil, and 
of grace and sin; the foretaste merely of the ban¬ 
quet of blood the saints would have to drink; the 
opening of the “ Dance of Death,” wherein life and 
death and grace and sin would be partners to the 
end of time; the prelude to the mighty “ Drama 
of Exile,” wherein the sweet angelic strains of 
those who chant the praises of the Lamb, would 
in all after times be rudely broken into by the 
discordant noises of the “Spirits of the Storm.” 

Consequently the history of the Catholic Church 
is, and always will be one unvarying record of faith 
at war with infidelity, and of morality with vice. 
On one side of the page are clearly seen the laws 
of God, the traditions of His saints, the zeal of 
His priests and the faithfulness of His people; on 
the other, are just as clearly seen His enemies, 
schismatics and heretics; crimes and all manner 
of foulness; on one side is the Spirit of the Most 
High, and on the other, the Demon of the Abyss. 


24 Introdiutory and 

Moreover, the history of the Church is the his¬ 
tory of the “ City of God,” and that of her enemies, 
the history of the “ City of the World.” When, 
therefore, in the 1st century, broke out the unclean 
doctrines of the enemies of Christ, such as St. Paul 
speaks of in the thirteenth chapter of his Epistle 
to the Romans, and in the third of that to the 
Colossians, virtue found a bulwark, and morality 
a champion in the Apostles. These were the chief 
and first antagonists of the enemies of Christ. And 
afterwards as vice spread through those countries 
that had been converted first to the Faith, and men 
grew more wicked in their days, God raised up 
new saints to supplant the old who had fought the 
good fight and had been gathered to their fathers. 
But with all this the torrent of evil never ceased ; 
it still ran on; it was stayed maybe for a time in 
each age by the saints who rose against it, as rivers 
are sometimes turned from their course by moun¬ 
tains, and forced to sink away in the earth and lie 
concealed out of sight, but certain to appear again. 
Thus when the Nicolaitans, a filthy heresy, ap¬ 
peared in the 1st century, and the same St. John 
the Evangelist arose against them, they disap¬ 
peared for a while, but afterwards (in the Ild 
century) they again came to light, under a different 
form and different name. Physicists remark the 
same property in waters that flow under ground, 
that they lose some of their natural ingredients in 
their subterranean course, but gain others instead, 
and then come forth, seething maybe, and bubbling 
and boiling with the taste of some different acid or 


Historical Sketch, 


25 


alkali, but just as foul as ever. St. Clement of 
Alexandria unearthed these heretics of the Ild 
century under the names of Carpocratians, Ada¬ 
mites and Valentinians; and a^sjain defeated, these 
same came to light in the Illd century, under the 
name of Manichees, and forthwith the Church con¬ 
vened synods and councils to again condemn 
them, and as often afterwards as they appeared, 
no matter how changed their name, or disguised 
their form', so often did the Church call out her 
warriors to defend the teachings of her Faith from 
these noisome errors, and guard the morality of 
her people, that had been entrusted to her care, 
from their depraving influence. 

The reader of history cannot fail to note that 
heresy invariably aims at two different points, the 
head, namely, and the heart, and that these it al¬ 
ways keeps in view ; moreover, that it always fights 
with two-edged weapons, error and licentiousness; 
the one, to distort the mind by untruths, and the 
other to demoralize the heart by crime. Conse¬ 
quently when Simon, a heretic in the 1st century^ 
assumed the title of Redeemer, of Paraclete, etc., 
he was merely a teacher of error, and consequently 
as such, an enemy to truth ; but when he gave to 
a mere creature—a woman, called Helena*—the 

* In the year 1532, women began to exercise the ministry of 
the Word, in opposition to the teaching of St. Paul in his first 
letter to the Corinthians, ch. 14, v. 34-35. Their leader was 
named Argula, a woman of not ignoble rank. In earlier ages, 
the Montanists had their Priscilla and Maximilla. So too had 
the Peputians and Collyrid’ans. V. Berti^ Hist. Eccles. Compend. 
y. I. p. 163. 


26 Introductory and 

worship of tatria, or that due to God only, he then 
became a teacher of immorality, and consequently 
an enemy to virtue. And so with Cerinthus— 
another heretic of the 1st century; he denied the 
creative power in God, which is an error against 
faith and a blasphemy, and yet he admitted (as did 
Mahomet in the Vllth century) an hereafter of sen¬ 
sual bliss, a creation solely of his own device, and 
this was his contribution to impurity. In the Ild 
century, the old errors of Cerinthus were again 
unearthed by Carpocrates (mentioned above), who 
admitted too, all manner of turpitude and baseness, 
under the pretext, as he declared, of fostering 
Christian liberty, and hence came the spiritists and 
free-lovers of that day. In the Illd century. Manes 
—founder of the sect of Manichees—did his best too 
to sap the Faith, by teaching there were two prin¬ 
ciples in nature, equally great, equally powerful, 
and yet both supreme and omnipotent; one, the 
principle of good, the other that of evil, who 
warred each with the other for mastery in man ; 
hence that man, no matter how he lived, (it might 
be righteously, and then it was due to the good 
god; or then again, evilly, and then it was due to 
the bad one,) but that whether he lived a saintly 
life or an immoral one, he might always presume 
on divine sanction either for his virtues or his 
crimes. Hence were the Manichees as impious as 
they were impure. And so on from age to age 
history tells the same unvarying tale of grace and 
sin, and virtue and untruth. The current of im¬ 
piety and vice has always swept through every 


Historical Sketch, 


27 


land, side by side, with the river of life, never ming¬ 
ling their waters, keeping them always distinct, 
yet poisoning and refreshing the faithful, as, by 
turns, each in its own country grew the strongest. 
The first may be likened to those sluggish streams 
W’e see on a summer’s day, covered with loathsome 
corruption gathered from the refuse on their banks, 
that poison the very air, and so sicken the soul as 
to dull all feeling in us, so that we even lose our 
sense. Such was heresy in the olden times, foul, 
corrupting, demoralizing, a pool of ignorance, and 
such is it now in ours, as the statistics of those 
countries, viz: England, Holland, Prussia, Scotland, 
and the United States, or wherever else heresy may 
go to prove, that where the laws of God are 
ignored, crime is rampant; despotism the only rule; 
the oppression of the poor, invariably a sequence; 
immorality under no restraint; nor any sense of 
decency, even of that which nature teaches, save in 
so far only as coerced by the edicts of a police. 
But Faith, on the other hand, like a pure, limpid 
stream, flows on uninterruptedly from the Rock of 
Peter, clear and healthful, full of life; charitable, 
humane, and chaste; always strongest where most 
persecuted, and its adherents always most exem¬ 
plary, where they are most tempted. And must not 
that doctrine be sound, that morality pure, which 
from Christ comes down from age to age in His 
Church, through Apostle to Pontiff, through Saint 
to Martyr? until to-day, for the first time, maybe, 
has been executed the injunction of the Holy 
S.:)irit—“ Go, teach all nations, preach in every 


28 Introductory and 

land.” The Faith is always the same, never chang¬ 
ing, the same in the XlXth century that it was at 
Jerusalem, at Rome, at Ephesus, and at Corinth in 
the 1st. The Credo that all say to-day, aye, many 
times each day, is the same that has been repeated 
from millions of tongues, in every age and in every 
land, and found a response in millions of hearts, 
from the day of the first council in the guest- 
chamber at Jerusalem, from the time it was first 
preached by Peter in Rome, under Claudius, and 
guarded by the successors of Peter when Claudius 
was forgotten; the same that has been illustrated 
by all the saints in their virtues, and the same that 
has been consecrated by all the Martyrs with their 
blood. As was its P'ounder, so is it. It is the 
same to-day. It was the same yesterday, and it 
will be the same to-morrow. Enough then to show 
the persistency of heresy and of heretics in sin and 
vice, and the lastingness of Faith in all virtue even 
unto the end of time. 

And now passing by intervening ages we come 
down in the history of the Church to the XVIth 
century. This was the age of St. Thomas* of Vil- 
lanova, and of the Great Reformation, (as it is 
called in history,) a period full of portents, grand 
and g.^ave; of empires shattered, and of thrones 
disturbed; of states in revolt, and of nations at 
war; of countries lost to the Faith and of others 
saved; and greatest, most direful of all the events 

* St. Thomas of Villanova flourished in the latter quarter of 
the XVth century (1488), and diea in 1555. 


Historical Sketch. 


29 


that signalized this era, was the war of man with 
his Creator, a war that, for the first time in the 
history of the world, strove to overturn every 
single form of belief in a God, and to paralyze 
every virtue that could adorn the human soul. 
This was an era of universal revolt; an era of 
anarchy, and an era of unbelief, when all the 
streams of vileness, gorged with centuries’ flood 
of impiety, crime, impurity, and every manner of 
lust and error—streams that had been converging 
gradually, yet surely, for ages, picking up from 
here and there, in every land, the filth of all the 
ancient heresies besides the new, the impurities of 
Manes, the fatalism of Mahomet, the impiety of 
Wiclef, and the blasphemies of Jerome of Prague, 
till full to overflowing they now rolled their waters 
over the valleys and plains of Germany. In a 
moral point of view Germany surely must have 
been the very lowest place in God’s creation, the 
basest, the most corrupt of nations, a kind of Dead 
Sea beneath the lowest level of the rest of Europe, 
p'or there all virtue seemed to have fled the 
Church; the days of Ananias and Sapphira were 
upon her; the foul vices of the Nicolaitans and 
Gnostics that had been running partly above and 
partly beneath the surface of society, from the 1st 
century to Manes, and from him to Mahomet in 
the Vllth, and thence onward to the Fraticelli 
and Turlupini in the XIVth; now burst forth as 
a deluge over the land of Saxony. It well nigh 
covered the tops of the loftiest mountains, and 
these, at the most, gave forth but smoke, not light. 


30 hitroductory and 

with uncertain voices, that only begot distrust. 
Religion was a by-word, law and order a vision 
of the past; the Church an ignominy, and the ser¬ 
vants of the Most High, with religious of every 
rule, monks, hermits, nuns, even the watchmen of 
the Lord, who had been set on high places to 
keep sentinel over His inheritance, bishops, even 
archbishops, all with rare exception, were defiled 
with its slime. To add to the terror of the scene, 
the flames of civil despotism now burst forth, the 
embers of which had been blown by the syco¬ 
phants of Charles Vll. of PTance, a quasi-anarchy, 
in its way, a monster—the first-born of the schism 
of Photius, and both in direct line from the impious 
descendants of Core, Datlian, and Abiron*—the 
base intermeddlers in Moses’ time with the Taber¬ 
nacle of the Lord, all these now rolled over 
Europe, scorching wherever they breathed, and 
blasting wherever they touched, destroying at the 
same time, all veneration for the altar and all 
respect for the throne. The picture drawn by the 
historian Audin is dark indeed. From it would 
appear that not in one place only, but that every¬ 
where was a dearth of virtue, a harvest of corrup¬ 
tion, a miasma of intrigue, in high places and in 
low, together with open violation of God’s laws, 
desecration of the Sabbath, of the feast days of 
the Church, with little faith or none in her children 
except a full and free belief in the dogma of the 
Epicureans, that sensual sect of pagan times, who 
were ever chanting the antiphon, ''Let us eat and 


* See Book Oi Numbers, xvi. chapter. 


Historical Sketch, 


31 


drink to-day, and be merry, for to-morrow we die f 
and, among her ministers, plenty of simony and 
sacrilege, and such is the picture of Christian 
Europe in the XVIth century. 

A brief inquiry into the condition of each impor¬ 
tant state of Europe will show us that the whole 
land was at that time shaken from its lethargy as 
by an earthquake of disorder, that morals were 
everywhere in conflict with the Decalogue, that 
society was convulsed by intestine feuds, and that 
the light of Faith was darkened by their sins from 
the minds of men. In every quarter were wars, or 
the rumors of wars; schisms between the state and 
the Church, and quarrels between parties within 
the Church ; princes at dagger’s point with princes; 
subjects in rebellion against their masters, and both, 
like wild beasts, howling against the ministers of 
the Lord, and with glowering eyes, indicative of 
the spirit of cruelty and rapacity within their 
bosoms, thirsting, but not for the first time, to 
drink their fill of the life-blood of the saints. One 
emperor, Charles the Vth, was embroiling half of 
Europe in his uneasy hurrying from Madrid to 
Paris, and thence to the Netherlands, and from 
them to Germany, foolishly striving, as rulers do 
now, (will they never learn how to rule ?) here, to 
enslave the Church, so as to make it the minion 
of his fancy; there, to wheedle it into acquiescence, 
to make it the partner of his guilt, and in the end 
missing both aims by dismembering his own 
realms, and then seeking safety in a foreign land. 
Another ruler, Maximilian of Austria, at war with 


32 hitroductory and 

Venice, as Charles was with the first Francis; Italy 
all cut up by deadly strifes that were for calling in 
foreign aid—some the Spaniard, some the French, 
others the German, and all in disunion, with each 
at the other’s throat; and during all this time the 
anointed of the Lord was in distress, while Herodias 
danced and sang; another kingdom, France, whose 
court even then ruled the peop'e, much more its 
sovereign, to the sad detriment of all law, civil and 
divine, and of virtue and morality, had given even 
as far back as 1438, by its dalliance with that most 
mischievous cabal of impious freethinkers, to wit, 
the Pragmatic Sanction, an earnest of the fruits of 
evil it afterwards would bear in the XVIIth cen¬ 
tury, of Gallicanism and Jansenism. And thus 
while Christian princes were casting lots for the 
seamless vesture of the Church, the wily Turk, as 
might have been foreseen, caught at the golden 
opportunity to wreak his wrath on the sons of 
those who had crushed him centuries before, on 
the plains of Judea. Heavy indeed fell the ven¬ 
geance of six hundred years on the fairest parts 
of Christendom. Buda, Belgrade, Vienna in Aus¬ 
tria, Cairo in Egypt, Armenia in Asia Minor, 
together with Cappadocia and Galatia; in Syria, 
Damascus, and Rhodes, Cyprus, and Cocyra in 
the Egean Sea, were overrun successively by the 
sultans, from Soliman in 1516 to Amurat in 1595, 
and only served to show that in their hate to the 
Church, and the trampling under foot of the rights 
of man, and the overthrowing of the destinies of 
nations, the Turk was but an apt imitator in the 


Historical Sketch, 


33 


East of the cruelty and usurpations of his brother 
sovereigns in the West. Add to all this, the con¬ 
sternation in men’s minds from the plagues that 
swept off whole provinces, as that which at Tour- 
nay, in 1514, carried away 34,000 souls; the terror 
from the sudden bursting forth of waters from the 
earth, as occurred in Germany in 1515, or from the 
appearance of horrible monsters, as that which was 
born* in 1512 at Ravenna, with horns on its head, 
eyes in its chin, wings instead of arms, the claws 
of wild beasts for toes, and on its breast the figure 
of a cross. 

Such were some of the many ills that hung like 
heavy clouds over the minds and hearts of men in 
the XVIth century, which, massing their power 
from every part of creation—from the East, from 
the West, from the throne, overturning the dynas¬ 
ties that gave them birth, even from the altar, 
destroying as by fire the polluter of God’s sanc¬ 
tuary—came rolling along from Italy and Spain, 
from France and from England, growing larger in 
their hurry, blacker, fiercer, weightier, darkening 
from most eyes the light of Faith, of its purity, of its 
sanctity, till they burst forth in all their resistless 
fury, like a second deluge, over the Church. The 
first flash of the storm-cloud, that portended the 
ruin and desolation of the Holy of Holies, struck 
at Erfurt, on a hermit, whom a previous flash from 
Heaven had guided thither. Truly was he the 
arch-demon of the tempest, the first to declare 
revolt against the Lord of hosts, but not the only 

* Berti.—Hist. Eccles. Compend. vol. II, p. 192. 

3 


34 


Introductory and 


one. With him came Melanchton and Bucer, and 
other many kindred spirits that helped to blow the 
flames of God’s anger. And this was the period 
of the Great Reformation. Urgent indeed was then 
the need of reform in the Church, a reform instant, 
thorough, universal; and come it did, but in God’s 
own good time. As sure as when, in the days of 
the Apostles, the traitor Judas was driven by his 
brethren from their midst, and perished miserably 
by his own hand; as sure as when that other arch¬ 
traitor, Arius, of the IVth century, broached his 
execrable doctrines against the Divine Nature of 
Christ, and fell dead in his blasphemy, a reeking 
mass of putridity, in the streets of Constantinople; 
as sure as when Pelagius, in the same century, 
vomiting forth his unbelief in the action of Divine 
Grace, ended his life, no one knows when or how, 
only that he disappeared from the eyes of men, as 
if swallowed up by earth in horror at his impiety 
towards Heaven; as sure as when that other scourge 
of God, Alaric, and with him the Vandal Genseric, 
in the Vth century, was warded off from Rome by 
that truly great pontiff, Pope St. Leo the Great, so 
now in these more recent times, when the great 
apostasy of the XVIth century was blinding men’s 
minds to all truth, and paralyzing their hearts to all 
virtue, w^hen civilization seemed at its lowest ebb, 
religion but a fashion and morality a name, the Lord 
raised up in and around His Temple, great reform¬ 
ers, who would illustrate anew the sanctity that had, 

for a moment only, been dimmed by a traitor,_ 

great heroes, who would confirm the P'aith by their 


Historical Sketch, 


35 


blood, and great saints, who would lead back the 
flocks of Israel to their ancient pastures, to the 
shelter of the mountains of the Lord, so that these 
in their turn might wholly reform the spirit of the 
age, re-introduce the practice of those kindly vir¬ 
tues that add so much to the beauty of the Church, 
namely, simplicity in word and sincerity in deed, 
instead of double-dealing, modesty instead of arro¬ 
gance, charity instead of cynicism, zeal for God’s 
glory instead of the love of pomp, and holiness of 
life instead of self. For the people of the Lord, in 
their prosperity, had well-nigh forgotten the “ Pro¬ 
mised Land,” and were sighing, as of old, for the 
unlawful viands of the flesh. We may remark that 
while the ancient heresies, as a rule, were confined 
to one country or to one sole people, they attacked 
only one dogma or so at a time, and the rest they 
left untouched. Thus the Arians, in denying the 
consubstantiality of the Son—the Second Person of 
the Blessed Trinity—with the Father, did not how¬ 
ever deny, explicitly at least, the Divinity of the 
Father, or of the Holy Ghost, nor did they refuse 
to believe with the Church, other of her doctrines. 
Neither did the Nestorians, in refusing Mary the 
honored title of Mother of God, attack avowedly 
the Divinity of her Son. So that on the whole, 
these ancient heretics, though totally separated 
from the great body of Christian believers through 
their pride and disobedience, still retained a partial 
faith. Hence were they tolerable, in a measure, 
for their earnestness in admitting some truth in¬ 
stead of denying all. They believed in God, and. 


36 Introductory and 

maybe, in some virtue, under a hateful guise, per¬ 
haps, and much distorted by their diseased fancy, 
but still a virtue, at least in name. Hence, though 
their creed was mutilated, deformed, monstrous, 
yet did they vindicate their claims to have some 
sort of a creed, to be believers in something at 
least. If they did not believe in Christ, well, they 
believed in Moses, or in Mohammed, but always in 
somebody apart from self, and in something not of 
earth. Moreover, one writer or two was, as a gen¬ 
eral rule, sufficiently able to cope with them. Thus 
the holy writers, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Irenaeus, 
fought against the Valentinians and the Marcion- 
ites; St. Justin against the Montanists, and St. 
Cyprian against the Sabellians. The Manichees 
were opposed by St. Gregory, who refuted them ; 
the Donatists, Arians, and Jovinians by St. Athana¬ 
sius, and the adherents of Vigilantius and Helvid- 
ius by St. Jerome. The holy pontiff Germanus 
warred with the Iconoclasts; Ratherius, saintly 
bishop of Verona, with the Anthropomorphites, who 
were confined to Italy; S. Peter Damian, Lanfranc, 
and Alberic, with the Bereiigarians of Germany; 
St. Anselm with Roscelline; St. Bernard with Abe¬ 
lard, and St. Dominic with the heretics of Alby, all 
of France. 

But this new leprosy of the XVIth century 
struck at the very life of all faith, at every form of 
Christian belief. For it no dogma, however sacred 
or revered, that was to be respected; no discipline, 
no matter how ancient, that was not a tyranny; no 
morality they did not spurn. 


Historical Sketch, 


37 


They believed in nothing, and naturally they 
respected nothing. They ignored the Apostolic 
practice of fasting, because fasting disagreed with 
their love of eating; they contemned that of Con¬ 
fession, because it disagreed with their pride; in 
turn, they threw aside all other Sacraments,— 
Extreme Unction, because the oil they would 
rather give to the well, who had no need of it, than 
to the ill, who, according to the Apostle, had; 
they despised Baptism, because as a rule they 
preferred wine to water, and the Holy Eucharist, 
because, for a good meal, meat is stronger than 
bread; they would not have Confirmation, for they 
desired naturally to give blows, not take them ; 
they scorned the idea of Purgatory, because they 
had no sympathy with penance; that of Heaven, 
because it lay above them; nor had they any will 
to climb the steeps that lead there, and so, by 
strange contradiction, admitting neither happiness 
above nor punishment—only for a time, they had 
it—for eternity. As a matter of course, even the 
Sacrament of Matrimony, holiest of Sacraments, 
the cradle of Christianity, that had always been 
guarded by the Church with such singular care, 
and jealous watchfulness—even this, in their blind¬ 
ness of heart did they contemn. Did any one 
yearn for a wife, even though of another man’s? 
let him take her, yet not one only, for such pro¬ 
ceeding would, according to these pseudo-re¬ 
formers, be too much a Popish practice; but let 
him have two, or even three, as had the German 
Margrave, or a half dozen, as did the English 


38 Introductory and 

Henry. For was not such a practice wholly in 
accord with their primary tenet—namely, to do 
each one as he pleased, even though it were in 
defiance of the law of God, for Him they did not 
even recognize; or of nature, for had they not come 
to improve it; or, of custom, for were they not 
the reformers f In turn, all the laws of nature, and 
all the commandments of God, were broken alike 
by these idolaters of self Faith, virtue, everything 
that claimed part or parcel with Christian belief, 
whether the most ancient or the most revered, 
they did away with. They burned churches; they 
burned libraries; they burned priests; they burned 
monks; they burned nuns,—all in virtue of their 
high pretence to be looked on as the reformers of 
their age, so as to symbolize, it would seem, but 
in other’s flesh,—as the Saracens had done in the 
Vlllth century, and the Communists did in the 
XIXth,—the fire of religious and civil liberty in 
their own. For them, at least so determined were 
they to overthrow every vestige of the Faith of 
sixteen hundred years, there should be no pope, 
save self, and he only to be the infallible one; no 
church, save the ale-house; no sacrifice, save that 
of the sword and gibbet; no altar, save that of the 
dicing-table; no priesthood, but that of mammon; 
no saints, save in heaven, where they took care to 
send them; no demons, save in hell, where they 
went themselves; no virtues, except such as reason 
calls vices, and no dogmas that we do not term 
madness. In a word, they recognized nothing, 
neither a God, nor a Trinity, except the trinity of 


Historical Sketch. 


39 


debauchery, of gluttony, and of unbelief; and this 
was the sum total of their religion, at least, in 
practice. So that, according to one historian,* a 
Protestant, the Reformation of the XVIth century 
coiuitenaiiced hninoralityi' and gave rise to a spirit 
of fanaticism p' and according to another,f it ''was 
(in England) begim by Henry, the min'derer of his 
wives, continued by Somerset, the murderer of his 
brother, and completed by Elizabeth, the murderer 
of her guests When therefore such a frightful 
deluge of crime, of murder, rapine, lust, of blas¬ 
phemy the most revolting and of unbelief the most 
incredible, now threatened to engulf all Chris¬ 
tendom, and with it all morality and all religion, 
can we wonder that the Spirit of the Most High 
descended now upon the mountains of the Lord, 
in all His magnificence and power, as lie had 
done on Sinai, on Horeb, and on Thabor? Can 
we wonder that the Lord now called upon His 
Church to light her beacon fires upon her loftiest 
mountains, and proclaim anew to the world 
through the mouths of her saints, that the Lord 
had come upon His people, that He who could 
raise children unto Israel, even from the stones 
of the desert, had again sent down His Spirit, not 
in tongues of fire, as of old at Jerusalem, yet in 
all the plenitude of His grace, of wisdom and of 
charity, of zeal and of sanctity, to the exercise of 
those virtues of which the world at this time had 
such great need ? Hence at the time of the 

* Hallam, Literat. of Europe, v. I-, ch. VI. 

f Edinburgh Review, on Macaulay s History. 


40 Introductory and 

Reformation were so many saints, more, perhaps, 
than we can note in any other era of the Church. 
Not that they were more numerous than had been 
the saints in the Thebais and under pagan perse¬ 
cution, but that while these are noted more for the 
exercise of some special virtue, as for instance, of 
austerity of life, of prayerfulness, of constancy, of 
charity or the like, the Saints of the Reformation, 
on the contrary, had showered down upon them 
every choicest gift of intellect and heart; they were 
fountains of wisdom, skilled in every branch of 
human lore, of classic, sacred or profane; they were 
linguists, scientists, and philosophers; masters of 
every weapon of the mind, besides being great in 
that other sense of the word, great in their holi¬ 
ness, as if each one of them had been sent to give 
masterly proof of some one single virtue; so that 
in after ages the faithful of every land might look 
to them as master-types of whatever there is in the 
world of grace, of sanctity, learning, wisdom, piety 
or zeal. And such they really were. 

Hence while in the whole of Europe, in Ger¬ 
many, Spain, the Low Countries, Italy, France, 
England, Switzerland, or Bavaria, the waters of 
the deluge of sin and crime were pouring forth 
over the land, growing higher, and everywhere 
engulfing men in rioting, in drunkenness, and in 
excess, in sacrilege, and in wantonness, and in 
rapine; the faithful too from everywhere flocked 
around these saints of ours, to the cloisters conse¬ 
crated by their virtues, to the hermitages adorned 
by their vigils, and to the temples of the Most 


Historical Sketch, 


41 


High, the arena of their labors, for help, for light, 
for guidance, and for safety from the flood. Who¬ 
ever abandoned the Ark on the mountains was 
lost, so did those who in these times fled the 
Church, perish in their sins, while those others 
that stayed within her through the storm were 
with her saved. For she, who like her Founder 
is always old yet ever new, constantly quickened 
her children in those days of woe and darkness to 
fresh trials and to new triumphs over the spirits 
of the abyss. She who is ever renewing her inner 
self with fresh inspirations from.Him who is at the 
same time her light and her life, jealously guarded 
in these times the faith and the morals of her chil¬ 
dren, the inheritance of the Lord, from the attacks 
and snares of those who would destroy the one 
and defile the other. She raised up among her 
children new saints to replace the old, who had 
been forgotten; new models of virtues for those 
that had been lost, and new instances of wisdom, 
zeal, and heroism for all. 

Undoubtedly then the Church greatly needed 
reform at this time. Still reform for her was 
nothing new, and so she had it now. Yet as in 
other times she had felt the same need, and had 
provided it of herself, so now did she of herself 
begin to reform herself, wholly by herself, and not 
through others' aid. For one that is reformed by 
another must necessarily be dead, without life or 
spirit, while a living body can be reformed only by 
self, the outward form may change, but the life 
within, the spirit, must ever be the same. And so 


42 Introductory and 

the Church, the temple of the living God, brought 
forth reform alone, unaided, save by the Spirit of 
the Lord within her, herself remaining as pure, as 
unsullied, as divine in her own beauty, as so well 
became the spouse of the Eternal One. In reform¬ 
ing herself she had driven away from her portals 
in the year 325 the heretic Arians; in 381 the 
Macedonians; the Nestorians in 430; the Euty- 
chians in 451; the Monothelites in 680; the Icono¬ 
clasts in 757; in 869 the Photians, and in the cen¬ 
tury preceding the present one, the XVth, the 
adherents of Wiclef, John Hus, Jerome of Prague, 
with the Thaborites, and the beastly P'ossarii, the 
lustful Adamites, the no less wicked Orphani, and 
the inhuman Calixtines. These all had been bad 
enough, but the present heresies, as must appear, 
were inconceivably worse, vastly more dangerous, 
because more subtle, more crafty, and more widely 
spread. For the very ones to whom, being high 
in power, the Lord had committed the sceptre, 
that they might rule in wisdom and in justice—the 
very ones whom the Church had nourished at her 
altars most fondly, and had fattened on her sub¬ 
stance, these would now fain drag her down into 
the slough of their own impiety and sinfulness of 
heart. Hence with St. Thomas of Villanova, the 
first great reformer of his age, the first in point of 
date, the reformer of the cloister in Spain, the 
model of zeal and charity to pontiffs, and the 
patron of the poor, came a host of others, famed 
too for their wisdom no less than for their sanc¬ 
tity. These were of every rank in the Church, and 


Historical Sketch, 


43 


of every class of society, archbishops, bishops, 
priests, religious of every order, men, women, 
children, and so numerous were they that it would 
seem the Lord had sent them purposely to show 
that virtue was neither of one sole country nor 
confined to caste. Hence he drew them from 
around the hearth, as well as from the hermitage; 
they were of each sex, and of ev^ery age, matrons 
and maidens, youth and fathers of family, of that 
sphere in life that is exposed more than others to 
the contagion of the times, yet who preserved, 
amid all kinds of danger, their virtue unsullied, 
and inviolate their faith. Prominent among these 
was the holy Ste. Jeanne Frangoise Fremiot de 
Chantal, (1572-1641,) the model of devoted wives 
and of saintly widows; then the holy St. Vincent 
of Paul (1576-1660,) model of industry to the 
world and of pity for the poor; then the great St. 
Francis of Sales (1567-1622,) zealous in impart¬ 
ing instruction to youth, and S. Juan d’Avila (1500 
-1569,) the apostle of Andalusia; the blessed 
Francis Caracciolo (1563-1608); the venerable 
John Leonardo (1543-1609); the Spanish S. Juan 
de la Cruz (i 542-1591); the venerable Philip of 
Penavillo, martyred at Rhodes by Soliman; at 
Milan, the great St. Charles Borromeo, “whom 
Jews might worship and Protestants adore,” (1537 
-1584,) the reformer of the episcopacy in Italy as St. 
Thomas had been in Spain, and the venerable arch¬ 
bishop of Braga in Portugal, Bartholomew dei Mar¬ 
tin (1514-1590.) Then, beside these there was 
among the Carmelites, St. John a Cantalicio, mas- 


44 Introductory and 

ter of spiritual life; among the Theatines, St Caje- 
tan in 1547, and San Andrea Avellino of Castro- 
Nuovo (1521-1608); then the Ven. Angelo of 
Florence, a monk of Vallombrosa, and holy 
Michael, a recluse of Camaldoli. The Order of 
St Dominic gave St Rose of Lima (1586-1617) 
an American saint; the Order of St Francis gave 
the B. Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562) a minor 
Observant, and model of austerity and penance, 
and St Felix of Cantalicio, a Capuchin (1515— 
1587,) model of simplicity and innocence; the 
Society of Jesus was adorned by the Angelic 
youth, St Aloysius (1568-1591,) by St Stanis¬ 
laus Kotzka of Poland (1550-1568,) by St Fran¬ 
cis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies (1505-1551,) 
and by St Francis Borgia (1510-T572). While the 
Order of St Augustine added to the catalogue of 
the blessed, the B. Joseph of S. Geminiano, who 
was martyred by the Turks in 1524; the Ven. 
Anthony de Fuentes of Hispali in Spain (1476- 
1517); the Ven. Alphonsus of Orosco, a Spaniard 
(1500-1591); B. Christine of Aquila in Italy 
(1542,) and the Blessed Didacus, proto-martyr of 
Peru (1568). These were some of the principal 
saints of the Reformation, yet many more must 
Divine Providence have given at that time to His 
Church, whom we know not of, nor will until the 
last great day, who served as salt that leavens 
bread, to keep alive virtue and holiness among a 
sorely tempted people, and that at an age when 
all memory even of virtue had seemingly fled the 
Church. 


Historical Sketch, 


45 


Yet, as Divine Providence had brought forth 
these models of virtue to combat vice, of wisdom 
to confound the vain learning of the world, and of 
wonderful sanctity to put to the blush the immo¬ 
rality of the pseudo-reformers of the day, He did 
not design that they should illumine the world 
only for a time, and then vanish without leaving a 
single trace behind. He wished them to be per¬ 
petuated, that the good work begun by them 
might never cease; that the lamps of their virtues 
might always burn and give light in the “ City of 
Godfor the evil deeds of the Reformation were 
to last, and so also should the good. Therefore 
were instituted new orders of holy religious men 
and women, consecrated to the service of the Lord 
and to the aid of their neighbor, whose mission it 
should be to develop in society the virtues that 
most were needed,—compassion, to care for the 
sick and homeless and the poor, and to instruct 
the ignorant; kindliness of heart, to console the 
prisoner; sympathy, to alleviate the mournfulness 
of the captive; and zeal, to spread the truths of 
religion, from the prattling child at the fireside to 
the heart-sore wanderer at the farthest corner of 
the earth. Hence rank glorious in the annals of 
the Church the names of such benefactors to hu¬ 
manity as S. Juan de Dios, of Portugal, founder of 
the Order of Charity, instituted especially to give 
assistance to the infirm (1495-1550); St. Ignatius, 
a Spaniard, founder of the illustrious Society of 
Jesus, to give missions to the people, and carry the 
truths of religion to far-off lands (i49i-i55^)i 


46 Introductory and 

Theresa of Avila, also a Spaniard, the reformer of 
her Order and foundress of the Barefooted Carmel¬ 
ites (1515-1582); St. Philip Neri, of P'lorence, 
founder of the Oratorians, whose chief aim is paro¬ 
chial ministration to the people of large cities 
(1515-1595); B. Thomas of Jesus, a Portuguese, 
reformer of the Barefooted Augustinians in Spain 
(1529-1582); St. Angela de Merici, of Brescia, 
foundress of the Ursuline Order, dedicated to the 
higher branches of teaching (1474-1540); the holy 
John Peter Caraffa, founder of the Order of Thea- 
tines, in 1567; Matthew Bassio, founder of the 
Capuchins, in 1525; then the Recollects, instituted 
in 1532; and the Barnabites, founded in 1526 by 
Antonio Morigia and Bartolomeo Ferrario of 
Milan, with Francesco Maria Zaccharia of Cre¬ 
mona; the B. Girolomo Emiliano, a patrician of 
Venice, who was founder, in 1540, of the Somaschi, 
who care for orphans; Csesar de Bus, founder of 
.. the Regular Clerics of the Christian Doctrine, in 
1570; John Bareira, a Cistercian, founder, in 1577, 
of the monks called Fidienses, a reform and off¬ 
shoot of the Cistercians; St. Camillo de Lellis in 
1585, founder of the Congregation of Ministers to 
the Infirm; Agostino Adorno, a Genoese, in 1588, 
founder of the Order of Minims; and the Congre¬ 
gation of the Most Blessed Trinity, in 1595, a 
Spanish society for the redemption of captives 
from the Turks. Enough, anyhow, to any candid 
mind, to show that the good spirit of reform flowed 
through and vitalized every class of society. None 
were left untouched, all were benefited by it; the clois- 


Histojical Sketch, 


47 


ter became more God-serving; the cathedral a veri¬ 
table house of prayer; the pulpit the oracle of truth; 
the school the seminary of wisdom, and the family 
the garden of the virtues. Each one of these gave 
illustrious saints to the calendar of the Church’s 
heroes,—representatives, each one of the worth, 
learning, virtue, or heroism of his class, in those 
times that developed virtue in as quick proportion 
as was developed vice. Nor was the Church slow 
to recognize the wisdom of the spirit that prompted 
these men to either found new orders, or else to 
reform the old, that so virtue might have a refuge 
in the cathedral or in the cloister, as in olden times 
it had found solace in the desert. For among the 
various aims proposed by them, apart from those 
that are essential to all religious societies, as the 
observance of chastity, poverty, and obedience, 
were the restoration of those virtues wherein men 
had chiefly offended, namely, the knowledge of the 
laws of God, and this was particularly cared for 
by the Clerics of the Christian Doctrine; the alle¬ 
viation of the miseries and ills of life, especially 
in hospitals and lazar-houses, to which the Congre¬ 
gation of the Ministers of the Infirm, and the Order 
of Charity were especially consecrated, and the 
holiest exercise of Christian charity, that of selling 
one’s self into bondage (mostly among the Sara¬ 
cens), so as to redeem the father to his family, the 
wife to her husband, and the brother to his breth¬ 
ren,—a work of the purest love, the aim of the 
religious of the Spanish order for the Redemption 
of Christian Captives from the Turk. 


48 Introd2Lctoiy and 

But while the Church was renewing her vigor, 
while she was opposing virtue to vice, truth to 
heresy, and zeal to slothfulness, her enemies were 
by no means idle. Around the banner of Erfurt 
had been massed all the legions of the abyss, with 
Melanchton, Beza, Zwingli, Karlstadt, Oecolam- 
padius, Calvin, Munster, Storck, and a host of 
others, who had again broached the old-time issue 
in Heaven between Michael the Archangel and 
Lucifer. At this time, then, when so greatly 
needed, were the soldiers of the Cross idle? While 
all the defenders of the Church were hastening to 
her aid, from the cloister and the cathedral, from 
hamlet and city, to wherever the foe was strongest, 
did the brethren of the great St. Thomas share not 
in the universal zeal ? Had the children of Augus¬ 
tine, who had so discomfited the heretics of every 
age, now hung up the sword to rust, when the 
City of God” was beleaguered by its new ene¬ 
mies, as sorely at least as when the Vandals stood 
in arms around their Father’s see at Hippo? Were 
those who had labored so strenuously for the Faith 
of the Lord in every land, who had sat as counsel¬ 
lors and judges in high places,—in the great Coun¬ 
cils of His Church, and latterly in those of Florence 
and of the Lateran, now to desert her, when a 
quondam brother hermit had proven false to his 
troth, and broken that rule which was so honored 
in every country, from Ormuz to Cadiz, and from 
Ethiopia to Iona? Were the two thousand monas¬ 
teries that studded the plains, and hills, and valleys 
of Europe, of Asia, and of Africa, that numbered 


Historical Sketch, 


49 


among their thirty thousand inmates,* the dweller 
in the hermitage near the Hebron, the missionary 
in Abyssinia, the evangelist among the steppes of 
Poland, or the crusader in the islands of the Archi¬ 
pelago, not now to send forth their hosts of holy 
men, pious and learned,—scholars, preachers, di¬ 
vines and saints—to confront this new foe of the 
Cross in the West, as they had done against the 
Moslem in the East ? Surely they were not now 
to prove false to their name. The faithful of the 
Lord never sleep, and the sons of Augustine never 
rest when the enemy is at the breach. From uni¬ 
versity and cloister, from pulpit and hermitage, 
came the brothers of St. Thomas, to defend the 
teachings of Holy Church against her foes,—even 
to shed their blood in defence of that Church these 
men would sneer at; to hasten here, and to tarry 
there; to labor with pen and tongue, and with 
prayer and discipline, in Saxony, on the Rhine, in 
Switzerland, in Baden, in Bavaria, in England, in 
Italy, in France, in Spain, in the Netherlands, as 
their great Father before them had done against 
the Donatists in Africa. No, St. Thomas was not 
alone in the battle. Neither was it the time for one 
man only to do battle, nor was the battle in one 
sole place. It was everywhere, and everywhere were 

* These figures are taken from the statistics of the Order. 
They are given by Father Crusenius, who lived in the latter 
part of the XVIth century. He was a religious of holy life, and 
of great learning. He was successively Apostolic Visitor of 
the Order of the Premontre Canons in Flanders, Commissary- 
General of Austria, Bohemia, and Styria, and counsellor and 
historiographer of the Emperor Ferdinand II. In 1616 he 
rebuilt the magnificent college at Brussels. 

4 



50 hitroductory mid 

his brother hermits with him. Everywhere along 
the line was matched warrior against warrior. It 
was heretic against the soldier of the Cross, sensu¬ 
alist against ascetic, infidel against the man of 
prayer. It was the colossus of wrong, the leader 
on one side against the champion of the right on 
the other. It was another war of Titans. The 
master-minds of pride, of revolt, of error, and of 
all vice, out of the Catholic Church, were drawn 
up against the master-minds of wisdom, the heroes 
of constancy, the paragons of sanctity in it. 

First in Germany, first of all in Europe ^to 
attack the hydra of unbelief, was Father Bartholo¬ 
mew Arnold! of Ussingen, a German himself by 
birth, an Augustinian by vow. This in 1517. He 
who had once been the teacher in wisdom and 
virtue when Luther was content with being an 
humble pupil, now the very same time Luther left 
the convent, dishonored his robe, and abandoned 
the Faith of his brethren, became the most 
unflinching antagonist against him.* 

* The praises of Father Arnold! have been sung by such 
writers as Possevinus, Gesner, Frisius, Verderius, Maraccius; 
besides by those of his own Order. On the wall of the convent- 
refectory at Wurzburg, in Franconia, at one time were read 
the following lines: 

“ Olim me Luther fit praeceptore magister. 

Fit simul et Frater Religione mihi, 

Deseruit sed ubi documenta fidelia Doctor, 

Detexi primus falsa docere virum.” 

Which, translated, reads thus: 

When I was master, Luther became a doctor, 

A brother too in sweet commune of Rule. 

But now that he once doctor seeks to err, 

I first of all did prove him false to Faith. 


Historical Sketch. 


51 


As Arnold! was first in Germany, so in Italy 
another Augustinian, Ambrogio Flandino of Na¬ 
ples, was the first to give warning at the approach 
of the foe. The same year too (1517,) in Germany, 
another religious. Father Augustine Marius, a 
German, and once a fellow-comrade of Luther at 
the convent of Erfurt, rose in combat for the Faith 
against his former friend. Then comes Father 
Augustine Cappelmair, also a German, (praised by 
that sturdy champion of the Faith, F'ather John 
Eck, the Dominican,) to whose unceasing energy 
Albert Duke of Bavaria, attributed the immunity 
of his territories from heresy ; and Conrad Tre- 
garius, a Swiss, who, commissioned by the Bishop 
of Lausanne, took part in the debate at Berne 
between the Zwinglians and the Catholics, (which 
ended in 1528 with their defeat,) as Fr. Marius, 
two years before (1526) had, at the desire of the 
Bishop of Basle, entered the lists at Baden against 
the Lutherans and Calvinists; and Father John 
Hoffmayster, called by antonomasia, the Anti- 
Liither^ as Flandino* was the “ Christian PlatoC 
the same whom the Bishop of Augsburg sent to 
Ulm and Dilingen to protect the Faith, whom 
William Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke 
of Bavaria, invited to Munich for the same purpose, 
and who by his unchallenged learning,t and 

* Fr. Flandino is highly eulogized in the writings of Peter 
de Alva, a Minorite; Possevinus, a Jesuit; Marraccius, Toppius, 
and others. He was chosen bishop of Limoges, (Lamocensis,) 
and suffragan of Milan in 1507. He died in 1531. 

•j- Of Fr. Hoffmayster, Leonard Haller, bishop of Philadelphia, 
writes that in the diets at Worms in 1545, and at Ratisbon 


52 


Introductory and 

uncompromising faith and zeal so embittered the 
heretics, that in 1547 they killed him at Gunzburg 
by poison, after he had fought them seventeen 
years. And with these champions of the Faith, 
with these scholars, theologians, writers, preachers, 
come Fathers Bartholomew Hulric, and Christo¬ 
pher Fisther, both Germans; the first, a resolute 
protector of Catholic interests in the provinces 
of the Rhine and Suabia; the other, like Hoff- 
mayster, skilled in debate and preserver of the 
Faith among the people along the Rhine. 

Then the venerable Father John Staupitz,* vicar- 

in 1556 , whither he had been invited by the emperor Charles V., 
Buch was the effectiveness of his preaching, as to move heretics 
to respect and Catholics to admiration for the Faith. Augustine 
Ardinghelli, bishop of the Order of St, Dominic, in the Appendix 
to his “ Congeminaia Vox Turturis," says that Fr. John Hoff- 
meister surpassed all others, that he was born to war with 
heretics, that he was the leveller of the Confession of the 
Lutherans, and of that of Augsburg, and the most valiant 
defender in all Germany of the Catholic Faith. His words 
are: “ Claruit ante istos P. Fr. Joannes Hoffmeisterus pro- 
vincioe Sueviae sui Ordinis Oeneralis Virarius, ad impiignan- 
dum haereticos natus, Lutheranorum, et Confessionis Augusta,nae 
eversor, Augustinianae Catholicaeque doctrinae in tota Alemania 
propugnator acerrimus." Gerard Velman, in the dedicatory 
letter to his work “ On the Acts of the Apostlesf says that he 
deservedly claims first place among the sacred expositors of 
his day—‘‘m numero sacrorum expositoruni Hoff may stems hac 
nostra aetate facile principem locum merito atque optima jure 

sibi vindicare potest, qui cogitatione, ingenioque . cuivis 

hujus temporis theologo extra controversiam potest praeponi.'* 
Praised also by Possevinus, S. J,, Peter de Alva, a Minorite 
Sixtus Senensis, a Dominican; by Frisius, Crescentius, and 
others. 

* In 1501 , Father John Staupitz went to Rome at the instance 
of Frederic Duke of Bavaria, to obtain the recognition of the 



Historical Sketch, 


53 


general of Germany in Luther’s time, who nobly 
seconded, if he did not lead, the attack against the 
arch-heretic. Father Staupitz, a Saxon by birth, 
and of noble family, was a preacher of rare merit, 
most learned in all the science of those days. In 
the very beginning of Luther’s downward course 
he took earnest part to arrest his fate. Even those 
who were most his enemies bear honest testimony, 

newly-founded Academy of Wittenburg, as well as the privileges 
usual at that time to be granted by the Popes to places of learn¬ 
ing. Father Staupitz obtained from the Sovereign Pontiff all he 
sought, as well as the prerogative of choosing the Chancellor of 
the new Academy and that of conferring degrees. He also filled 
numerous positions of trust, as embassies, etc., to various German 
princes. He was present at the Ecumenical Council of the Late- 
ran, in the name of and with full powers from the Cardinal Prince 
of Salzburg. From 1503 — 1509 , he ruled the province of Saxony 
with great prudence and notable improvement in discipline. The 
congregation of Saxony under the Rule of St. Augustine was 
founded in 1440 , but from the year 1500 (17 years before Luther 
left it,) it had been totally exempted from the jurisdiction of the 
Superior-general of the Augustinians at Rome. This seems to 
have been a not unfrequent line of action among the offshoots of 
the religious orders of that day. Wherefore while the virtues of 
such independent societies may be aggregated to those of the 
parent order, their demerits should be imputed solely to them¬ 
selves. In 1511 , Father Staupitz was Provincial of Thuringia 
and Saxony, and from 1515 — 1517 , vicar-general of all Germany. 
This latter was by Apostolic appointment. After 1517 he went 
to Salzburg, invited thither to take place among the counsellors 
of Matthew, Cardinal Archbishop, his ancient friend. After a 
few years in the Cardinal’s household, i. c., in 1522 , he was 
elected Abbot of the famous monastery of the Benedictines, that 
had been founded towards the close of the Vlth century, by St. 
Rupert, first bishop of Salzburg, and here, in 1524 , Father Stau¬ 
pitz, fortified by all the consolations of Religion, passed away to 
a better life. He was buried in the monastery chapel of St. 
Rupert’s. {Viri illustriores Ord. Seti. Augustini, Tolentine, 1859 .) 


54 Introductory and 

at least, to his kindness of heart, his gentleness of 
mien; and that while others sought chiefly by re¬ 
proof and argument to check the wayward Luther, 
he on the contrary sought the same end, but by 
different ways. But whom threats could not 
coerce, kindness, advice, and pleading, failed to 
move. In consequence Father Staupitz, now im¬ 
potent to stem the tide of heresy, (as who was not? 
no matter how determined he might be,) did no 
more than abandon the field to more resolute men. 
Saddened at the many wrongs heaped on Holy 
Church by the subject he once loved so well, he 
goes, almost broken-hearted, to end his days 
peacefully in the Benedictine monastery of St. 
Rupert, in the quiet service of His Lord. His 
bitterest maligners do not impugn his fidelity to 
the Church, nor even cast a shadow of doubt upon 
his zeal. If faults he had, they were his prudence, 
somewhat too cautious maybe, for the times he 
lived in; his simplicity in trying to do by gentle 
means where force had failed; his kindliness of 
heart and his fatherly regard, eager always to 
soothe and not to irritate the fierce demons he 
saw around him. If these were faults, they were 
his only ones. Perhaps had others from the very 
outset tried gentler means as he would have, the 
issue had been different, and Mother Church would 
then have lost, in having fewer saints, but gained in 
fewer scandals. 

Plowever we pass now to others. Then comes 
Father Augustine Lupfif, who warded off heresy 
from the Palatinate in 1521, and Father John 


Historical Sketch, 


55 


Little, a Saxon, in 1526, and Peter Stigler, a 
German, in 1534. who fought ably, as their 
brethren had done, in defence of the Faith, and 
Achatius Claus, a German, and Sigismund Scherer, 
a Saxon, who led the attack against the Lutherans 
in Austria,* and Arnold of Bornossia, v/ho was 
sent in 1523 by the Superior-General of his Order 
from Italy to Germany to oppose Melanchton and 
Karlstadt. All these were Augustinians, in Ger¬ 
many, and brilliant representatives too of the sort 
of men Divine Providence makes use of to con¬ 
found the enemies of His Church. 

In PVance, too, how eager, how zealous, how 
efficient were the defenders of the Faith, history 
tells, in golden letters. We know full well how 
Francis Richardot,t Prefect of the Academy of 
Besan9on, and afterwards bishop of Arras, kept his 
diocese clear from the miasma of heresy; how at 
Douay he held single combat with the heretics, 
and came off victor in the debate, by the conver¬ 
sion of his principal opponent; how the blessed 

* According to the testimony of the Dominican Father Gravina, 
in his work entitled, Vox Turturis. 

t Father Richardot was of Morey, in Franche-Comtd. Palla- 
vicini, in his Histoire du Concile de Trente, mentions him as “a 
prelate of great merit, for his theological learning, his talent in 
preaching, and his zeal for the propagation of the Faith.” L. iii. 
p. 1066. Guicciardini calls him, “ most Learned and venerable.'* 
At twenty-one years of age he taught Scriptures publicly at 
Paris. In 1563 he assisted at the Council of Trent, '* avec eclat," 
and took chief interest in the founding of the university of 
Douai, V. Olaire, Diet. Univ. des Sciences Ecclesiastiques. Ho 
died in 1574, at the age of sixty-seven, having been bishop for 
thirteen years- 


56 Introductory and 

Antoine de Bonis was martyred by the Calvinists 
while preaching from the pulpit, together with the 
blessed Nicholas Nautonier, sharer in his faithful¬ 
ness as well as partner in his crown; how another 
—the blessed Antoine Escrozailles—was tortured 
to the death, by having melted lard poured over 
his body; how Augustin Guarin, and Augustin 
Mareschal, and Guillaume of Lyons, with eight 
others, were martyrs for Christ’s sake; how at 
Tournay the blessed Pierre Pistorius, the father- 
provindal, was the sole antagonist of the Calvin¬ 
ists ; and how blessed John Simon, with ten others, 
were shot by the same, in 1570. All this we read 
in history, and still the list runs on. 

In Belgium, too, were the Augustinians no less 
earnest in their zeal and constancy, in defence of 
the faith, than had been their brethren in France. 
The blessed Justus van Dyche was martyred at 
Ghent, being compelled to walk through fire, and 
Father Walter de Raemaecker driven into exile, 
but first well-nigh beaten to death by rods. 

But it is in England the story of the martyred 
Hermits ends the saddest. In other countries there 
was more or less of humanity shown them. At 
least there was safety for life. Across the frontier, 
into a neighboring friendly state, one, if defeated, 
could take a step, be free, and live; and in Ger¬ 
many, the fight was carried on chiefly with pen 
and tongue alone; while the confiscation of one’s 
convent-home, the disbanding of one’s brethren, the 
burning of one’s church or library, or exile maybe, 
was the worst they had to fear. But in England 


Historical Sketch, 


57 


the war was waged with different means, with means 
most cruel and inhuman, with the sword, the rack, 
the gibbet; and the great Tower of London still 
tells the tale (in the instruments of torture yet 
shown to visitors) by what manner of logic the 
Faith there was fought, and what manner of men 
were its defenders. In the convent-refectory in 
London, two hundred religious, with the father- 
prior at their head, were murdered in cold blood by 
Henry’s minions; and the traitor Cromwell, like a 
second Achab,* fell heir to this sanctuary of the 
Lord. In 1537, blessed George of the White Rose 
{Rosa Atbci) of royal lineage, was martyred at the 
age of twenty-two, by the same Henry’s orders, 
as well as the blessed Martin of Condres, in 1544, 
with Paul of St. William, both too of kingly line. 
At Cambridge, in 1537, another victim, blessed 
John Stone, who in his dying moments was com¬ 
forted, as was the proto-martyr, St. Stephen, by 
Angels’ voices and Angels’ ministrations, and 
blessed John Traverse, an Irishman, in 1539, 
beside many others, all venerable martyrs in the 
cause of God, except the famous Bernard Andreasf 

* For history of Achab, see III. Kings, 21 st ch. 

f Cooper, in his Biographical Dictionary, says: “ Bernard 
was appointed poet laureate and royal historiographerthat 
"he also held some tutorial office at Oxford. In 1498 the bishop 
of Lincoln conferred upon him the hospital of St. Leonard's, 
Bedford, which he resigned the following year. He also held 
other ecclesiastical offices. In or about 1496 he was appointed 
tutor to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and he was a witness of his 
pupil’s marriage, by proxy, to Catherine of Arragon.” This is 
substantiated by reference to the ‘'Augustinian Annals" of that 
time. In some other histories, Father Bernard is given as the 


58 Introductory and 

of Toulouse, sometime librarian and typographer- 
royal to Henry. He, the poet, orator, and coun¬ 
sellor of Henry VHI, was the one that induced 
the king to write his noted book in defence 
of the Faith, which he dedicated to Pope Leo, 
and for which he received in turn the title he 
afterwards so dishonored, of ''Defender of the 
FaithI Enough has been said, however, to show 
how glorious in every land were the brethren of 
St. Thomas, how jealous of their charge to main¬ 
tain inviolate the Faith of the saints, how skilled 
in the use of every weapon, the Church has by 
right consecrated to her aid, learning, saintliness, 
heroism, with which to match the hate, the impiety, 
the deadly examples of evil men who would 
assail her; the same weapons that she has always 
wielded, with signal effect, the tongue which she 
has blessed, and even the heart’s blood of her 
children which she has venerated, whether in the 
person of a Chrysostom or a St. John Nepomucen, 
against a pagan despot, or of an Anselm, or a 
Thomas a Becket, against a renegade king. Such 
then, as have been described, were the sons of St. 
Augustine. In Germany, they were the first there 
to defend the Faith, where its -enemies first had 
started; the first in Italy, where they hoped chiefly 
to raise adherents, and prominent among the first 
in England, in France, in Belgium, in Switzerland 

author of the celebrated work, for the writing of which Henry 
gathered the honors. But as the statement does not appear to 
be universally recognized, or without some doubt, it is purposely 
left open to correction. 


Historical Sketch. 


59 


and Baden, in Bavaria, and along- the Rhine. 
And it was eminently fitting it should be so. As 
in other times, the companions of the traitor Judas 
were the first to rise against him; so had the 
Augustinians an almost preeminent right to be the 
first in the field against Luther, the first in the 
rostrum, the first in the pulpit, the first to defend 
the Faith, wherever or however assailed. 

From this it will appear how unwarranted is the 
statement, and how unfeeling is the charge, that 
the Augustinians were the chief partisans of 
Luther.* Some of them undoubtedly took his 
part, and, if we may credit history in general, 
many others too did the same, who were not in 
any way of the Order of St. Augustine, nor even 
admirers of it, or, in fact, of any save their own. 
But whether some few did or did not side with 
Luther, is not the point at issue. It is whether 
an Order universally respected for the saintliness 
of its members, for their learning, for their zeal, 
and for their wisdom, an Order which had been 
entrusted with the weightiest offices in the Church, 
and rewarded with the most signal proofs of the 
esteem of its Pontiffs, whether, in a word, “the 
Augustinian order with its principal members,” 

* In D’Aubigne’s " History of the Great Reformation,” etc., 
“ Reviewed,” etc., by M. J. Spalding, D.D., Baltimore, 1844, on 
page 45, stands the assertion that:—” Luther’s order, with its 
principal members—Staupitz, Link, Lange, and others,—were his 
warmest advocates; while the Dominicans, Cajetan, Ilockstraet, 
Eck, and Prierias, were his chief opponents. The Dominican 
order continued faithful to the Church; the Augustinians of Ger¬ 
many abandoned it almost without an exception.” 


6 o 


Ifitroduciory and 


could even by the wildest of conjectures be sup¬ 
posed to have, in an instant, and at the beck of a 
traitor, abandoned all that was dearest to them, all 
that was holiest, and all that was most revered— 
their altars, their saints, their school and their 
reputation that had stood untarnished for a thou¬ 
sand years. Apart from such a wholesale apostasy 
never having occurred in the history of the Church, 
nor even in that of a single Order in it, the state¬ 
ment, as may be readily ascertained from a brief 
perusal, at the most, of the non-partisan historians 
of that epoch, lacks too even all extrinsic proba¬ 
bility. The reflection any way is consoling, that 
all saints have been at times the butt of misrepre¬ 
sentation ; that it is the good and only the good 
that Divine Providence so allows to be singled out 
for persecution, that so He may test their worth; 
and that in the history of the Church and of its 
Founder, the instances are not few, where virtue, 
dimmed by adversity, has shone forth all the more 
glorious, just as after a storm the sun always shines 
brightest. 

Yet in reading the history of these heroes, does 
it appear that any one could have been more zeal¬ 
ous in defence of the Faith than Arnoldi, who was 
the first to attack Luther? or more prudent than 
Cappelmair, who saved Bavaria (even to the pres¬ 
ent day) Catholic? or more trustworthy than Tre- 
garius, who was commissioned by one bishop to 
take his place in public combat with the heretics ? 
or than Marius in like manner commissioned by 
another? or could one well be braver than Hoff- 


Histo7ical Sketch, 


6 i 


mayster? or more energetic than Hulric? or wiser 
than Lupff?—all Germans, all Augustinians. Could 
greater constancy be demanded of any one than 
was shown at Lyons by Father Guarin and his 
companions; or at Tournay, by the blessed Pierre 
Pistorius, the father-provincial ? or at Ghent by 
the two holy brethren, Van Dyche and de Ra>e- 
maecker? or in England, where the whole com¬ 
munity was butchered to quench a tyrant’s thirst 
for blood, and earth, in consequence, lost two hun¬ 
dred saints, but gave to Heaven as many martyrs? 
Can there be even the slightest pretext for such a 
statement, when in Italy, at the General Chapter of 
the Augustinians, at Tarvisio, the Fathers—repre¬ 
sentatives of the whole Order—condemned without 
reserve Luther, with all his errors, and with all his 
accomplices, stigmatizing these as execrable here¬ 
tics? or when five years before (1512) at the Gen¬ 
eral Council of Lateran, an Augustinian, Egidius 
Canisius of Viterbo, was delegated to pronounce 
the opening discourse, a man so learned, so pious, 
and so pure of life, as to merit commendation from 
all the Sovereign Pontiffs of his day, from Julius, 
and Leo, and Adrian, and Clement; one whom the 
historian Rohrbacker declares “the most brilliant 
light of his time,’’* whom Pope Leo X. raised to 

* Rohrbacker, in his “ Ilistoire Universellet' 1. 83, p. 829, 
writing of Egidius, says:— ‘^C'e’ait un religieux non moins pieux 
gue docte, ne de pauvres cullivaleurs. A celte epoque^ il n'eet pas 
dhomme comme un Pape pour decouvrir le merite, mime quand il se 
cache dans la prison d'un cloiire. Jules II. lira noire moine de son 
monasiere, et V employ a comme leyat a Venose el d Naples. La chairs 
convenait mieux au moine que la cour. 11 y monta dune pour rem~ 


62 


Introductory and 

the cardinalate in 1517—the very year of Luther’s 
disgrace—whom another Pope, Clement VII, con¬ 
secrated Vlth Latin patriarch of Constantinople, 
and afterwards (1532) called to Rome solely that 
he, with another of his Order, Father Niccola Scu- 

jplir unc oeuvre toute catholique, pour precher une croisade contre ce 
Tare qui ne pouvait laisser un seal jour de repos d la chretiente. Un. 
hislorien compare la parole de Voraieur tanto! d un torrent qui eniraine 
Vauditeur, tanidt d une sbene qui iiduit et endort les grands et la 
peuple, le docte et Vignorant, Vhomme et la femme, Ic vieillard et 
Vadolescent. Egidius elait, pcete, hislorien, philosophe, theologien, 
linguiste. II savait Vhebreu, le chaldeen, le grec, le latin. Ajoutez, 
pour connaitre pleinement cette nature d'homme, qu'aussitot sa tdche 
remplie, il allait Men vite se cachet dans sa solitude. Quant d son 
discours prononce au concile oecumenique de Latran, Jacques Sadolet 
s'empressa de Venvoytr d son ami Pierre Btmhe; c'elaient les deux 
plus parfaits humanistes de leur epoque. Tous deux Us appelaient 
Egidius de Viterbe la plus eclatnnte lumiere de leur siecle, el disaient 
que, si par malheur les lettres et la politesse humaines avaient peri, 
dies pourraient etre repre-sentees par ce seul homme. Une vingtaine 
d'annees aupararant, Egidius de Viterbe, evangelisant les peuples 
d'Italic, leur avail annonce plus d'une fois qu'ils verraient de grandes 
agitations, de grandes calamites dans VEglise, mais ensuite aussi un 
commencement de restauration. Cette sorte de prophetic, qu'on se rap- 
pelait, le fit choisir pour faire le discours d'ouverture du concile qui 
devait remedict d ces maux. Egidius les decrit avec une latinite tout- 
d-fait ciceronienne, mais oil les considerations historiques ne sont pas 
toujours axissi solides que le style est e'egant. Il insiste sur la neces- 
site et VutitUe des conciles, fait I'eloge du pape Jules, et implore Vas¬ 
sistance de saint Pierre et de saint Paul sur Vassemblee, pour pacifier 
les princes chretiens, defendre la chretiente contre les mahometans, et 
rendre a VEglise son ancienne splendeur et purete.’’^ 

In a letter to the emperor Maximilian, Pope Leo X. terms him 
—a man of surpassing integrity of life, of religion, and of learn¬ 
ing—“is est eximia integritate, religione, doctrina, omniumqueprops 
linguarum quae nunc quidem excoluntur, usum atque scientiam, om- 
niumque honarum artium disciplinas cognitas et explicatas, hahetd^ 
A similar eulogy is given by Pope Julius II. 


Historical Sketch. 


63 


tellio, might oversee the translation of some Greek 
codices into Latin ? Indeed if Luther’s Order sided 
with him, it must have been when he was an 
humble religious. In very truth such recognition 
would then have been no wonder. 

But it is not likely that Egidius of Viterbo, who 
had been superior-general from 1507 to 1518, 
should have shown him, the apostate, other favor 
than that of recognizing openly and honestly his 
demerits. This, however, is no more than we could 
expect of him. But what may we not say of an¬ 
other superior-general,—of Jerome Seripandus? 
Maybe he favored Luther? He was most assuredly 
one of the “principal members” of Luther’s order. 
Gioberti says of him, that if the Augustinian Order 
had no other sages than the cardinals,—Seripandus, 
Noris, and Egidius of Viterbo,—it would even then 
have more than enough to make the world eter¬ 
nally its debtor. Could then so wise a man as 
Seripandus even pretend to favor the newly-fledged 
party across the Alps ?—or could one so learnedj 
one who was master of all knowledge, sacred and 
profane, of languages, of antiquities, be fascinated 
even for a moment with the phantoms of the 
ancient heresies he had in class so often demol¬ 
ished ? In a word, could he who had sat in the 
Ecumenical Council of Trent, as cardinal legate 
a tatere, who in that Council was one of the chief 
pillars of the Church,* prudent, zealous, a fountain 

* The historian Pallavicini, S. J., in his llistoire du Concile de 
Trente'' thus eulogizes the gifted Seripandus: etait bien 

kloigne de cette ambition qui fail dhirer auz hommes tnute espece de 
primaule, el surtout d ceux qui se trouveni de^d dans les premiers 


64 


hitroductory and 

of wisdom, a very giant in intellect, almost nn 
angel in virtue, loved as he was by people and 
pontiffs, esteemed, revered, honored by the Church 
when living, and mourned by the Church when 
dead,—could such as he have even faltered in his 
Faith, could he have so demerited the esteem of 
the faithful, wronged the love of his fellow-bishops, 
aad.^ betrayed the confidence of Pontiffs in his 
sterling zeal, his superhuman firmness against the 
errors of his day, could such as he, so virtuous, 
so gifted, yet so humble, have, even for a moment, 
dallied with the enemies of Christ, who were 
seeking again to buffet Him, in the person of his 
Spouse, the Church,—to sell Him, as of old, to His 
persecutors, not, in truth, for gold and silver, but 
for greed and sensuality,—then, indeed, might we 
well lose all trust in human virtue. Such a betrayal 

rangs'^ 1 . III. p. 182 . “Ze papt Fie IV Jui donna le chapeau 
plutot pour exercer ses talents qne pour les recompenser, voulant qu'il 
travailldt en qualite de legal a, Vheureuse conclusion du concile d qui 
il avail, dans les commencements, sous Paul III, apporte le tribut 
et I’appui de ces grandes lumieres en qualite de general de son 
ordre. ISlotre histoire est pleine, en plusiers endroits, de ce qu'il 
fit a Trente dans ces deux etats, par son savoir, par sa prudence, 
par son zele, et par son exemjne. On pourrait croire qu'il fut 
maltraiie pour la fortune, puisque elle lui refusa de voir terminer 
cet edifice dont il avail ete I'un des principaux architectes, si I'ou 
ne se rappelait que la fortune c'est Dieu meme, et qua I'egard des 
dmes vertueuses, le plaisir qu'elles goutaient sur la terre d'etre 
iemoins des progres de la religion, s'augmente, loin de cesser, 
quand il les leur fait voir au haul de deux.” III. 194 . 

During the Council—“ il fut charge de s'informer aupres des 
prelais sages et pieuz quelles seraient d leur avis les reformes les plus 
propres d rendre d VEglise son ancienne heaute et d fermer la louche 
d ses ennemies.” 1 . II., 1062 


Historical Sketch. 


65 


would not have been, ’tis true, for the first time. 
For while man lives, his battle is not over. The 
crown is never gained till the victory is lost. In 
one sole unguarded moment he may lose the toil 
of years. Solomon, the wisest of mortals, betrayed 
the Lord of Hosts for censuality, and Judas the 
disciple, for greed ; and until death has set his seal 
upon the brow, and the soul meets its Creator 
before the judgment-seat, man’s peril is not over. 
But that “ Luther’s Order, with all its principal 
members, were his warmest advocates,” cannot be. 
It cannot be that Seripandus at Trent, that Egidius 
at the Lateran, that Arnoldi in Germany, that 
Flandino in Italy, that Richardot in France, that 
the legions of their brethren in other lands, should 
have failed their Faith, or supported Luther’s 
party,—that the verdict of posterity, based on the 
monuments of the past, attested by the traditions 
of their Faith, the record of their zeal, and con¬ 
firmed by the almost unanimous avowal of con¬ 
temporaries, of their valor, of their piety, of their 
prudence, of their wisdom, of their sanctity, and 
of their heroism, should be undeserved. If “Lu¬ 
ther’s order, with its principal members, were his 
warmest advocates,” it must have been the kind of 
advocacy the martyrs showed their persecutors, in 
that through them they had a chance to witness to 
their Faith; it must have been the kind of advo¬ 
cacy the Confessors had for the errors they ex¬ 
posed, the vices they rebuked, and the tyrants 
they defied, in that they too were able thus to be 
heroes, although not unto the shedding of their 
5 


66 


Introductory and 


blood; it must have been the kind of advocacy 
one has at times for the sufferings the Lord sends 
those He loves, to test their love, or for the temp¬ 
tations he permits, to prove their constancy; but 
that “ Luther’s order, with its principal members,’* 
with its Martyrs in England, who thanked the 
hand that struck them, and blessed the sword that 
drank their blood; with its Confessors in Ger¬ 
many, who embraced with joy the chance their 
revilers gave them to manifest their zeal; with its 
Apostles in Spain, and in France, and in Italy, 
who everywhere rallied the faithful around the 
Cross; that this Order, with its saints of every 
rank, men and women of high and low degree, 
who are now honored at the altars of Holy Church, 
were in any other sense the “warmest advocates” 
he had, conflicts, to say the least, with history, 
which is infallible, and wrongs common sense, 
which never errs. 

And this was the Order to which St. Thomas 
belonged. His virtues were reflected on them and 
gave them greater lustre, while their merits showed 
that in His gifts the Lord had not been partial. 

And now that the light of Faith was no longer 
hidden from view by the sins of men, but beamed 
forth clear and radiant from every part of His 
Holy Church, from her cloisters and her cathe¬ 
drals, from her hermitages and her abbeys; from 
her children of every age and sex; from the 
matron and the maiden; from the youth and from 
old age; from her martyrs and from her saints, 
who grouped around her and called their- Mother 


Historical Sketch, 


67 


blessed, who delighted to show again to the 
nations of the world by their new life, that the 
Lord was not asleep, nor yet to be derided; that 
the beacon-fires of His Spirit had been kindled 
anew on the watch-towers of His holy mountains, 
around which had circled the storm-clouds of 
heresy and crime, and which had borne the brunt 
of the infernal onset, and had warded off the darts 
of sin that played around, shivering in their fury 
the .mightiest that were beneath their power, yet 
leaving in their impotency unscathed those others 
who were above; now that the Christian people 
once more gave earnest of the spirit of true reform 
within them, and flying to the mountains for 
safety from this deluge crowded round their saints 
in every land from Caledonia to Carthage, from 
Corinth to Cadiz, who, like landmarks above the 
plain of sin, towered far aloft as guides to Heaven, 
one might see again, brightening as of old, the 
light of Faith in every bosom, renewed the fountain 
of Hope in every breast, and freshened the fire of 
Charity in every heart. One too might see the 
child of Religion more earnest in its commands, 
more zealous in his piety, more fruitful in all good 
works. For the buyers and sellers had now been 
cast out of the Temple of the Lord; saints now 
were where demons once had reigned, and the 
House of the Lord was once again unto all men 
the house of prayer. 

But this sketch of the Great Reformation would 
not be complete, unless were shown too, how 
public, how authoritative, how final, and how com- 


68 Introductory and 

plete, was the universal reform in the Church from 
sin to virtue, and from error to belief. The 
Church, now that her children had done their part, 
was in turn to do hers. The Spirit of the Most 
High which had quickened unto new life even the 
outermost members of His Body, in Austria and 
in Poland, in England and in Spain, and had given 
them new being, and had breathed into them the 
breath of His Spirit, did not leave untouched the 
Head. It was now the moment, the crisis after, the 
battle, through which men had just now passed, 
that an instant and a unanimous avowal was 
required of the Church, of the Faith that was 
within her, and that demanded a no less unani¬ 
mous condemnation of the errors that were out of 
her. And glorious beyond all past avowals, arose 
the universal voice of Christendom, which in 1563 
gave utterance to that Profession of Faith which has 
ever since been re-echoed full and clear from her 
loftiest mountains in every land, lessening, maybe, 
in the distance, as in our own times, by reason 
of its adverse currents of impiety, yet growing 
stronger again, as with the dying out of old time 
spites and feuds, the wind changes,—the voice that 
is never feeble, never indistinct, always sure and 
certain,—the voice that is hearkened to in every 
clime and in every age up to the present day,—the 
voice of God speaking through His Vicar, the 
successor of St. Peter, the Head of His Church. 
Again did the Church proclaim the divinity of the 
Sacred Scriptures, God’s own Word, which the 
heretics would deny; again did she declare the 


Historical Sketch, 69 

sacredness of Tradition, which sophistry would 
spurn; again did she confess the misery brought 
on man by the first and original sin, which, because 
too humiliating to their pride, bad men would not 
admit, and with all this, she openly avowed the 
doctrine of the nature and action of Divine Grace 
and of God’s Justification of His saints ; the integ¬ 
rity of His holy Sacraments; the verity of His 
own Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrifice of 
the Mass, and the veneration of His saints, which 
even the pagan had allowed as just, and which only 
a libertine would, through very shame, deny. And 
no wonder then came reform with Faith—the reform 
of bishops, the reform of clerics, the reform of 
monks, and the reform, in fine, of every class of 
Christian faithful. Glorious in very truth was this 
voice of the Most High, given clear and divine, 
not with thunder and lightning as on Mount Sinai, 
but repeated with every accent of His love, and in 
all His mildness, as on Calvary. 

And this was the voice of God at Trent, at the 
greatest of all councils that had ever been; the 
seventeenth time that, since the Church began at 
Jerusalem, He had spoken to His Spouse in all 
His majesty, and to His people in all His author¬ 
ity. But yet was this not the only council of the 
time of St. Thomas. There had been councils of 
the whole Church, and so too should there now 
be councils in every part of that Church, that the 
voice of the Lord might not be heard with uncer¬ 
tain sound, but be repeated to every province of 
each kingdom, and to every diocese of each pro- 


70 


Introductory and 


vince, and to each parish of each diocese. Conse¬ 
quently there were those of every country. Each 
had its own, and though the Council of Trent, the 
grandest of all, was the one that gave the tone to 
all others after it, as had that of the Lateran to 
those immediately before it, yet did the faithful— 
like the children of Israel, when travelling to the 
Holy Land—flock from every part of the Christian 
world around their head, and bow with reverence 
to him, as those others had not done to theirs. 
Beside the two Ecumenical Councils of this cen¬ 
tury, viz: one of the Lateran and that other one 
of Trent, were eight minor ones in Italy; six at 
Milan, in the years 1565, ’69, ’73. ’ 79 » ’^2; one 

at Benevento in 1545 and the eighth at Aquileia 
in 1596; in France—seventeen, severally at Paris, in 
1528, at Toulouse in 1590, at Avignon in 1509 and 
another in 1594, at Treves in 1548, at Bordeaux in 
1583, at Cambrai in 1565, at Rouen in 1522, in 
1527, and in 1581; at Bourges in 1528 and an¬ 
other in 1584, at Rheims in 1564, and in 1583; at 
Aix in 1585, at Lyons in 1528, and a national one 
at Tours in 1510; in Poland—two, both at Peterkau, 
one in 1510 and the other in 1539; in Belgium— 
three, two at Cologne, one in 1536, the other in 
1549, and the third at Mechlin in 1570; in Ireland—• 
one, at Dublin in 1518; in Spain—four, at Toledo, 
Saragossa, Valentia, and Salamanca, all in the same 
year, viz: 1565. On the Rhine were four, at 
Osnabruck, Mentz, and Munster, in the same year, 
viz: 1538, and the fourth at Augsburg in 1548; in 
Mexico there was one in 1525, and—the very last of 


Historical Sketch, 


71 


all—one* other, termed in Church History the Diam- 
peritana, in the Far East, in 1599, at Goa, in India, 
of the “Christians of St. Thomas,” so called through 
a loving remembrance they bore for the Apostle, 
and presided over by the venerable archbishop of 
Goa and Primate of the East Indies, the Augus- 
tinian Alexius de Menesez, and this last closed 
the century. All of these, after Trent, sought to 
follow what it had laid down, viz: to remodel 
discipline, to reform manners, to correct abuses, 
to condemn errors, and to restore the Church to 
its ancient beauty and simpleness. 

With the preceding resume, then, of the councils 
of the Church, this sketch of the XVIth century 
may now end. Heresy had now been worsted; 
the truth of Faith was again triumphant; people 
breathed freer, and with a firmer assurance that the 
Lord was truly with them, while on their part His 
holy mountains, all the while, fairly danced with 
joy at such a universal show of virtue; in Ger¬ 
many, of faith, which from the very beginning had 
been severely tried with scoffs, and gibes, and all 
manner of unbelief; in England, of constancy, that 
had been assailed by blows, not words, and repelled 
by the arguments of the rack, the stake, and the 
gibbet; in France, of prudence, with all her sister 
virtues, that had now taken place once more over 

* This is believed to be a correct list of all the councils and 
synods of the XVIth century. It has been taken chiefly from 
Henrion and Berli. The synodal Acts of the ''Biamperiiand!' 
were printed at Rome in 1745, with notes by Father Jean 
Facunde Raulin, 0. S. A. Berli, Hist. Ecclesiast. Compend. 
vol. II. p. 162. 


72 Introductory a 7 id 

turbulence, and deceit, and intrigue ; in Italy, of 
zeal and piety, that had so long been choked and 
bruised by sinful games and cruel wars; in Spain, 
of charity, fruitful in good works, which had been 
so sorely tested by unseemly arrogance and wanton 
barbarities on her people; and in the whole of 
Christendom, of joy, that now at least there was, 
in very truth, complete reform, visible, clear, and 
lasting. 

Great had been the causes which developed it,— 
some of them fatal to the fairest portions of the 
Church, most of them disastrous to all virtue, and 
all of them scandalous to the faithful, in the highest 
degree. Yet as the Lord is always wont to bring 
some good out of every evil, so in this century He 
seemed to have lavished His graces upon the age, 
—great reformers, great saints of every class, laic 
and ecclesiastic; zealous the one, heroic the other; 
and greatest among the great, our own St. Thomas, 
the chief over all, the first great reformer of his 
age; the reformer of virtue among the people, the 
reformer of monastic discipline in the cloister, and 
the reformer of bishops in charity and zeal. Not 
assuredly, however, are all the reforms of the 
XVIth century claimed as his. Many they were, 
and many were the reformers. Yet who can dare 
to measure where his influence—the first of all— 
began, or where it stopped ? Great indeed it must 
have been, even from his earliest youth; felt alike 
in the hamlet, and revered in the court; spreading 
and widening with his years, strong and sure, till 
far beyond the olive-girt hills of his own Valencia, 


Historical Sketch. 


73 


it neared the Tyrol, and hovering there, amid the 
Alpine valleys, rising and lowering with his prayers, 
settled down over the assembled Fathers of the 
Church. Who can say that his spirit then, as the 
sun which at dawn first lifts the mountain-peaks, 
even the loftiest, from the gloom of night, and 
then the lowliest hills, and after bathes the plain in 
all the richness of his glory, may not have greatly’ 
aided in drawing down from Heaven, where his 
spirit loved to dwell, all its holiest graces,—coun¬ 
sel, wisdom, understanding, together with all the 
kindred gifts of the Spirit of the Most High,—of 
that Spirit which in the Council beamed down 
upon its members, and gave them life, then light, 
then love, and which from that Council was wafted 
by them to their convent-homes, their parishes, 
their sees, even to the farthest corner of the earth ? 
All this is not for us to say. We, so far removed 
from such a height of grace, may not presume to 
penetrate the light which girded him, nor may we 
dare to fathom the counsels of the Lord in raising 
him so high. When Moses went to Sinai, his 
people saw him mount; they knew he was with 
God, yet durst not follow, save with their prayers. 
All then that we may do, who like them are on the 
plain, yet strive so hard to mount on high, is to 
pray trustingly with him ; await with humble hope 
his intercessions with the Lord; follow obediently 
his guidance through this our “Desert of Sin,” 
that so we too may climb, in God’s own time, the 
steeps that now separate us from our “Promised 
Land,” 


74 Introductory and Historical Sketch, 

The Life of St. Thomas of Villanova, given in 
the present volume, is now for the first time pre¬ 
sented to the American public, and in an American 
dress. It is^a verbatim reprint from the London 
edition, translated by the Oratorian Fathers, and 
published by Richardson and Son, in 1847.^ 

In the Preface to that edition, (subscribed by 
*‘F. W. P'aber,”) is merely stated that the work is 
one of the “ Series of Modern Saints,’' which was 
being given at that time to the English speaking 
Catholics, and a translation from the French Life 
by Father Claude Maimbourg, an Augustinian, 
which had been published at Paris in 1659. In 
the present volume the few foot notes are taken 
chiefly from the “Memoirs of Illustrious Augus- 
tinians” during the last six centuries, by Father 
Giuseppe Lanteri, O. S. A. (Tolentine 1859,) 
from Henrion’s ** Stoj'ia Universale della Chiesal' 
T. C. Middleton, O. S. A. 

Villanova College, 

Feast of St. Monica, 1874. 


THE LIFE 


OF 

ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 


PART I. 


CHAPTER 1 . 

OF THE BIPwTH OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, AND THE INCLINA¬ 
TION TO ASSIST THE POOH WHICH HE DISPLAYED IN HIS EAKLY 
YOUTH. 

f T. THOMAS of Villanova was born in 
Spain, in the year of grace 1488. His 
birth-place was a village called Fluent- 
plan, near Villanova, a town of some note 
in the district of Montiel and diocese of 
Toledo. The nobility of his parents sprung 
from the exercise of virtue and sanctity of 
life, rather than from a long descent. They 
were simple people of the middle class; and 
their ancestors, who from time immemorial 
had professed the Catholic Faith, had be¬ 
queathed a fair name to their family, but had 
not cared to leave behind them any extra¬ 
ordinary store of wealth. But for all this 

75 




76 Thomas of Villanova, 

they were well-to-do in the world. They 
had enough to support their condition hon¬ 
estly, and they contented themselves with 
what our Lord had given them. 

His father was called Alphonso Thomas 
Garcia. He was a pious man, and of spot¬ 
less morals. As he possessed good feeling, 
and was easy and affable, many men resorted 
to him for advice in their difficulties; but 
chiefly the poor villagers, ,to whom he was 
in the habit of lending grain for seed, or for 
their support until harvest-time, when they 
punctually repaid what they had borrowed. 

His mother’s name was Lucia Martinez. 
She was very modest and retiring, and car¬ 
ried engraved upon her face the image of 
the devotion which breathed through her 
heart. She assisted regularly at the Divine 
Office, frequented the Sacraments, and never 
neglected her hours of mental prayer. But 
of all the religious exercises, to which she 
devoted herself with so much careful atten¬ 
tion, she was most remarkable for charity 
towards the poor. This she practised with 
so much love and tenderness, that our Saint 
in after years, looking back with admiration 
to his mother’s virtues, was wont to disclose 
to his more intimate friends, that God, in 
consideration of her compassion towards the 


kSV. Thomas of Villanova, 77 

indigent, had bestowed upon him graces and 
favors so remarkable as to amount almost to 
a miracle. And thus Juan Mugnatones, 
a brother of his order, who was bishop of 
Segovia, used to say of him, that he never 
spoke of his mother’s piety without express¬ 
ing the same sentiments towards her that 
St. Augustine entertained towards his mother, 
St. Monica, and has published in his Con¬ 
fessions, where he sets forth his obligations 
to her goodness. 

Such was the mother of St. Thomas. From 
her our Saint appeared to inherit the gift of 
prayer, piety, and compassion towards the 
poor, and to add to them the judgment and 
probity of his father. Our Lord vouchsafed 
to unite in the son the virtues of both parents, 
and rendered him in a short time a perfect 
and accomplished model of them all. 

St. Augustine, speaking of the care which 
his mother took to rear him in the love and 
fear of God, remarks amongst other things, 
that she often had the holy name of Jesus on 
her tongue, in order that he might learn to 
pronounce it betimes, and to invoke it in his 
little wants with the lisping accents of infancy. 
The result of this holy diligence was, that the 
sacred Name became so deeply imprinted in 
his heart, that in after years, when his judg- 


78 Thomas of Villanova, 

ment had been clouded by Manichean errors, 
he could not relish the lectures of heathen 
philosophers and orators, because they did 
not contain the name of Jesus, which he after¬ 
wards found so frequently in the Epistles of 
St. Paul; and thus his entire conversion 
happily ensued. In the same way the mother 
of our St. Thomas knew of what importance 
it was in the education of the young, to give 
them good principles, and early to impress 
them with all that they ought to retain ; and, 
therefore, to the first sentiments of piety with 
which she inspired her son, she endeavored 
to join a tender devotion to the most holy 
Name of Jesus, and to that of the Blessed 
Virgin, feeding his heart with respect and 
love towards the Queen of heaven, at the 
same time that she nourished his body with 
its first food; and so happy were the effects, 
that it was remarked of all the graces which 
he received from God through the interces¬ 
sion of Mary, the sovereign dispenser of 
favors, that the most distinguished were con¬ 
ferred upon him on some one of her festivals. 
For example, he took the habit of religion 
on the day of our Lady’s Presentation, he 
received the episcopal dignity on her glorious 
Assumption, and he quitted this world on the 
feast of her Nativity. 


6V. Thomas of Villanova. 79 

His inclination to frequent churches and 
spend as much time in them as he was able, 
may also be ascribed to the good example 
of his mother. Like another Samuel, whom 
God had chosen to dwell in His presence, he 
began as soon as he could walk, to offer his 
first steps and first words in the temple, 
where he used to say his prayers and to serve 
mass with a behaviour quite unlike a child. 
It was his delight to sweep the church, and 
to deck the altajrs, and to find employment 
of this sacred kind; and the persons in 
charge of the church used to set the young 
Saint to work, as much to satisfy his re¬ 
quests, as for the sake of gaining his ser¬ 
vices. His father and mother, who sought 
only the glory of God in their son, were over¬ 
joyed at these indications of an inclination 
towards the priesthood or a religious life ; 
and they sent him to school at the age of 
seven, where he learnt to read and write, 
and went through the other ordinary branches 
of education. Before he had been long at 
school, he displayed tokens of the vivacity of 
his spirit, which engaged the attention of his 
master. The solidity of his judgment drew 
forth particular admiration ; for he possessed 
sound sense, and conducted himself with so 
grave a demeanor, that he kept his compan- 


8 o SL Thomas of Villanova, 

ions to their duties by his mere presence. 
He never accosted any who were not distin¬ 
guished for modesty, and when he found 
none in his own humor, he used to go straight 
home or to the church, and all his pleasure 
out of school was found in one or the other. 

The love of our Saint towards the poor 
was displayed very early, and from his little 
alms it was easy to judge how much he 
would afterwards do to solace their afflic¬ 
tions. Instead of eating his breakfast, he 
generally gave it to the poor whom he met 
on his way to school; and not content with 
taking the food from his own mouth for their 
support, he often pulled off his clothes and 
gave them to poor children, as a protection 
against cold and nakedness. His mother, so 
far from reproving him on these occasions, 
praised God within herself, and used to pray 
that He who had inspired these first move¬ 
ments of piety and compassion towards His 
members, would bless her son the more for 
them, and would deign to bring him to 
perfection, which she only desired for His 
glory. 

As he was coming from school one day, 
when he was about eight years old, he over¬ 
took a poor peasant who seemed very sad, 
and was afraid to enter the house, because 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 8i 

he had not brought back all the corn which 
our Saint’s father had lent him the previous 
year. The child advanced with a gay and 
open countenance, and demanded the reason 
of his sadness. The villager knew him, and 
disclosed all his grief; the year had been a 
very bad one, and he was consequently quite 
unable to repay all at once the corn he had 
borrowed last seed-time, and he feared that 
wTat he had with him would not be accepted 
as an instalment, and that he should hence¬ 
forth forfeit the benefits which he had hith¬ 
erto enjoyed. This recital made a deep 
impression on the child’s heart. “ Come,” he 
exclaimed to the poor man ; come at once 
and let me see the truth of what you say; for 
if you really have so scanty a supply of grain, 
and if you are not able to return what you have 
borrowed of my father, be sure that God will 
find a remedy for your misfortune.” So they 
went together, and he found that the poor 
man’s story was evidently true. The child 
then retraced his steps, and throwing him¬ 
self at his father’s feet, he described the 
misery of the poor debtor who could not 
pay all that he owed, and even, in returning 
a portion of it, had left scarce any food for 
his destitute family; and he implored his 
father, by the name of our Lord, to take 


82 


SL Thomas of ViUanova, 


what the poor man had brought, and to wait 
for the remainder until he could conveniently 
pay it. His father, overcome by so moving 
a petition, was unable to hear him out. He 
was filled with joy to hear his son express 
sentiments so good and generous. That 
very instant he went to the door, to find the 
poor peasant, and to offer him consolation; 
and he forthwith cancelled the debt, and 
promised to continue his assistance when¬ 
ever the poor man stood in need of help. 


CHAPTER II. 

HE IS SENT TO STUDY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA, AND MAKES 
RAPID PROGRESS IN VIRTUE AND LEARNING. 

J T the age of twelve his father and mother 
sent him to study at the university at 
Alcala. They wished him to make ad¬ 
vances in literature; for they gathered from 
the bright indications of goodness and talent 
which he had displayed, that he was destined 
for the service of our Lord, and that he would 
one day rise to eminence in the Church. The 
result answered their expectations. On quit¬ 
ting Villanova he knew nothing at all of the 
Latin language; and yet he had not been 



83 


6V. Tho77tas of Villanova, 

long at Alcala before he made himself a 
perfect master of it. He passed with suc¬ 
cess through the Humanity classes. His 
progress in Rhetoric, Philosophy, and The- 
ology, was quite surprising. But although 
the advance he made in all the sciences 
taught at the university drew all eyes upon 
him, it was his humility above all the rest 
which elicited the admiration both of mas¬ 
ters and scholars. During the sixteen years 
which he spent at Alcala and Salamanca, 
learning himself and teaching others, he 
never uttered a single word to his own 
advantage or the prejudice of his neighbor. 
He never let fall one bitter or misplaced 
word, whoever might contradict him; and 
while arguing in the schools, amidst the 
heats of debate, he preserved as much com¬ 
posure as when alone in his chamber. The 
humility which he preserved while sur¬ 
rounded with applauding friends gained the 
love and esteem of all hearts, insomuch that 
respect for his virtue often procured him to 
be chosen referee in cases of great difficulty, 
where the cleverest of the university had 
failed of success, and his charity and inclina¬ 
tion towards peace found means to compose 
differences which were quite unknown to the 
wisdom of the flesh. 


84 St Thomas of Villanova. 

He was very pure and chaste, and Father 
James Montiel, his confessor, deposed pub¬ 
licly, that he had never permitted the pre¬ 
cious lily of his chastity to wither, but had 
kept it pure and whole even to the tomb. 
To preserve this celestial virtue, which he 
knew to be the gift of God, he devoted him¬ 
self to frequent prayer, as well as to medi¬ 
tation and other spiritual exercises, and he 
endeavored to act up to the advice St. 
Jerome gave Rufinus, “To avoid idleness as 
the mother of vices,” To this end he occu¬ 
pied all his time in reading, praying, studying 
and conversing with his friends about what 
he had read or learnt; in order that the 
devil, finding him so engaged, might not be 
able to enter his soul, and to assail it and 
involve it in his snares. To this remedy the 
young Saint added the practice of another 
virtue equally calculated to guard him from 
an evil which he dreaded more than death 
itself. The mortification of his body was 
continual. He wore himself down with fast¬ 
ing and hair-cloth, and the frequent use of 
the discipline, and subdued his flesh, as 
though he regarded it as an enemy, which 
he was resolved to render perfectly supple 
and obedient to his spirit. 

While he was thus employed in laboring 


•S'/. Thomas of Villanova, 85 

for his salvation, his father, who had done all 
he could by good works to secure his own, 
passed from this world to the other, leaving 
his property to his wife and son. As soon 
as the news reached St. Thomas, he set off 
for Villanova, that he might arrange his fam¬ 
ily affairs, and console his mother by his pres¬ 
ence. In both objects he was equally suc¬ 
cessful. After having read his father’s will, 
he told his mother, with great simplicity, that 
he had no wish for his share of the property ; 
that he willingly resigned it to her for her 
support, to enable her. to live comfortably in 
her state of widowhood; and that, as for him¬ 
self, his thoughts and desires were fixed upon 
heavenly riches, not on those of the earth, 
which he despised and renounced with all his 
heart, for the love of his Lord, and a wish to 
imitate His example. 

This noble conduct had so much effect 
upon his mother, that, though but seventeen 
years of age, he induced her to adopt his sen¬ 
timents, persuading her to turn their house 
into an hospital for the poor, and to employ 
all her means in lodging, feeding, and enter¬ 
taining them. Our Lord, who spoke to her 
by the voice of her son, rewarded her cheer¬ 
ful acquiescence to His wishes by bestowing 
on her some very remarkable favors and 


86 St Thomas of Villanova, 

graces, having even sometimes miraculously 
multiplied the provisions of the hospital, for 
the pilgrims and other poor people who 
resorted to her for relief. On account of 
her profuse and tender charity, she was hon¬ 
ored with the title of “ Mother of the Poor.” 

Her son, who was truly the father of the 
poor, making them, while living, his heirs, 
returned to Alcala, where he made such 
progress, both in virtue and knowledge, that 
his instructors in the university (especially a 
celebrated professor named John of Vergana) 
who knew his humility,^ proposed him to their 
scholars for imitation, as if he had been 
already a saint canonized by the Church. 

At the early age of twenty-six he lectured 
publicly in philosophy, and amongst the 
numerous auditors who were afterwards cel¬ 
ebrated for their piety and doctrine, there 
was one of particular celebrity, named Dom¬ 
inic Soto, whom Spain reckons amongst the 
most illustrious of her theologians. 

When these lectures were concluded he 
was offered a vacant place in the college of 
St. Ildephonsus in Alcala. Those who had 
the right of presentation, wished to show 
their high sense of his merits by presenting 
him, unsolicited, to a situation which was 
usually obtained by powerful interest. The 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 87 

doctors of Alcala had hoped by this obliga¬ 
tion to keep him with them, and to make him 
one of the heads of their body. However, 
they were soon deprived of him, for the uni¬ 
versity of Salamanca, the first in Spain, hav¬ 
ing heard of his virtue and extraordinary 
acquirements, invited him there to teach 
morality. He went, not so much for the 
emolument, as to satisfy their earnest wishes, 
and to show his feeling of the honor done 
him. His principal object was to execute 
the design he had formed of giving himself 
more entirely to God, as soon as he could 
honestly disengage himself from his studies. 
To prepare for the retreat from the world 
which he meditated, he gave himself more 
than ever to prayer, fasting, mortification of 
the senses, and assisting the necessitous and 
the miserable. He had an especial compas¬ 
sion for poor scholars, charitably giving them 
all he could spare, to help them to continue 
their studies, employing for this object the 
profit of his labors, scarcely reserving for 
himself as much as was necessary for his 
subsistence. 


CHAPTEK III. 


HE TAKES THE HABIT IH THE OEDER OF ST. AUGUSTIHB. 


J LTHOUGH our holy professor lived in 
the world as not belonging to it, and, 

' to speak in the language of the apostle, 
used the world as not using it, knowing 
that the fashion of it passes away, he resolved 
to go out of it entirely, and to shelter himself 
from its waves and tempests in the secure 
and peaceful harbor of a religious life. 
Nevertheless, with his accustomed prudence 
and caution, he determined not to be precipi¬ 
tate in so important an affair; but recom¬ 
mending it to God with many prayers and 
tears, he spared no pains to make himself 
acquainted with the spirit and the rules of 
several orders, that he might judge for which 
he was the best fitted. At length, after a 
long and careful examination, our Lord, who 
knows what is good for us better than we 
do ourselves, called him by a strong inspira¬ 
tion into the order of St. Augustine. 

He said nothing to his friends respecting 
his intention, nor did he disclose it even to 
88 


S9 


S^, Thomas of Villanova, 

his mother, much as he loved and honored 
her. He feared she might divert him from 
his purpose; and from the manner in which 
she wrote to him after his profession, it 
appears he was right in his conjecture. She 
entirely approve! of his resolution to leave 
the world, and thanked God from the depths 
of her soul, that her beloved son was so 
entirely devoted to His service, but with a 
mother’s fond affection she had set her heart 
upon his entering the monastery of Hucles 
of the order of St. Jerome, that she might 
sometimes have the consolation of seeing 
him, instead of his removing to a distance 
where she would be deprived of that plea¬ 
sure. 

In order then to prevent these, and other 
obstacles, which flesh and blood might have 
raised, from stranCTlingf his desi^^n in its birth, 
he went immediately to Father Francis of 
Para, superior of the Augustinians of Sala¬ 
manca, humbly requesting the habit. He 
was received at the age of thirty, on the day 
of the Presentation of our Lady, having 
expressly chosen this day from a feeling of 
respect and tenderness towards the Blessed 
Virgin, and with ^an earnest hope that it 
might please God to bless the offering he 
made of himself, in consideration and by the 


9 ^ S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

merits of the rich present which she that day 
made of herself in the Temple. 

Crusenius, one of our most celebrated 
authors, speaking of the time of Luther’s 
fatal apostasy, remarks in his Chronicles, 
that the same year, nay, the very same day 
that the devil enticed that monster from the 
religious order which he had professed, our 
Lord, by a particular conduct of His Provi¬ 
dence, called St. Thomas into it; as if in 
some manner to repair the injury the one 
did to the Church, by the honor and advan¬ 
tage it would receive from the other. 

The manner in which he made his exer¬ 
cises in the very beginning of his novitiate, 
proved the holiness of his vocation. His 
humility, his devotion, his exact obedience, 
his silence and recollection were such, that 
not only the young, but even those who had 
grown gray in the practices of regularity, 
could not contemplate him without some sort 
of confusion, seeing a novice begin where 
the most perfect in a religious life are accus¬ 
tomed to end. 

The virtues which drew on him this admi¬ 
ration, and which served as the basis and 
foundation of the spiritual edifice which he 
raised in his novitiate, were continual prayer, 
and a very extraordinary and deep humility. 


91 


Thomas of Villanova. 

He remained in prayer from the end of 
Matins to the hour of Prime; and after 
Prime, till it was necessary to return to the 
choir to sing Tierce and Sext, he read books 
of devotion, attaching himself especially to 
the works of St. Bernard, which he relished 
more than the writings of any other Father^ 
This predilection is easily accounted for, when 
we consider the similarity of spirit existing 
between them, shown so clearly in their 
works. This reading, with which he nour¬ 
ished his soul, and enlivened his devotion in 
his cell, at the foot of the crucifix, did not 
prevent him in his year of probation, from 
going through his theological studies again, 
and reading with the utmost attention to 
refresh his memory. He well knew how use¬ 
ful and necessary scholastic knowledge is to 
discover the mysteries of faith, and when dis¬ 
covered, to impress them deeply on the mind. 

He continued to pursue this system, and 
was afterwards often heard to say, that the 
good religious studies while he prays, and 
prays while he studies. According to the 
author whose history we follow, it was from 
the time of his arrival at Alcala, that he began 
to unite study with prayer, and prayer with 
study, in such a manner that they almost 
made one single exercise. 


92 6*4 Thomas of Villanova, 

The other virtue, for which he became 
equally remarkable, was a most profound 
humility. Here was a man, who, at the 
age of thirty, was a licentiate in theology, 
and who had acquired by his virtue and 
merit a high reputation in two universities, 
where he had taught with much success and 
applause ; yet, who renouncing the profit and 
the glory that his public lectures invariably 
drew upon him, was always the first at the 
exercises which are commonly used to try 
the submission of the brother novices. 
Whatever he did was done with so much 
love and alacrity, that his master was filled 
with astonishment and admiration. 

He was a great lover of retirement and 
silence. To so great an extent did he carry 
these virtues, that had it not been noticed that 
he was ever ready to leave his beloved solitude 
at the call of charity, and to converse with 
those who needed spiritual advice, it would 
have been thought that he was close and 
uncommunicative from natural disposition, 
rather than from principle. 

Besides the fasts of the order, which he 
kept with the same exactness as those of the 
Church, he imposed on himself, with the 
consent of his superior, several others of 
devotion; fasting generally three quarters 


S^. Thomas of Villanova, 93 

of the year. On other days he ate as the 
rest of the community, but with so much 
restraint and moderation, that he always 
deprived himself of something, from the habit 
he had acquired in his penitential practices. 
His love of mortification was not confined to 
fasting. For although this is a very excellent 
means of keeping the body in subjection, it 
was not enough to satisfy him. He afflicted 
his body by the privation of everything which 
could gratify it, in order to subdue it entirely, 
and to render it supple and obedient to the 
laws of reason. He slept only four, or at 
most, five hours; and during Lent and Ad¬ 
vent his bed was a single plank. The rest 
of the year it consisted of a straw mattress 
and two simple coverlets. These habits he 
continued even after he became archbishop. 

Such were his principles and his virtues, 
and such were the foundations which this 
devoted and fervent novice laid for the 
spiritual edifice, on which he ceased not to 
labor incessantly, until he had elevated it to 
that degree of perfection which we shall con¬ 
template in the sequel of tliis history. 

6 


CHAPTER IV. 


OF HIS CONDUCT IN THE OBSEKVANCE OF THE RULES AFTER HIS 
PROFESSION, AND OF HIS ELEVATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. 


year of probation being passed, the 
I day for which he so ardently longed, 
when he should devote himself entirely 
to the service of God by his solemn pro¬ 
fession, at length arrived. 

He made the vows to his Lord with an 
extreme delight; rivers of tears flowing from 
his eyes; a testimony of the joy with which 
his soul was filled at the sacrifice he was 
making of his whole being to his God. The 
same spiritual joy was even afterwards shed 
abroad in his soul, when he recalled to mind 
the graces and mercies he received from his 
good God on the happy day of his profession. 
And even when he assisted at the profession 
of others, he could not prevent abundance 
of tears from flowing, at the thought of the 
blessings they were then receiving, and those 
he had formally received himself. 

After he was professed, he omitted none 
of the exercises of the novitiate. On the 
94 




Thomas of Villanova, 


95 


contrary, being- persuaded, (as is indeed true,) 
that to perform the promises he had made to 
God, he must tend more and more to perfec¬ 
tion ; he kept continually impressed upon 
his mind, that the progress he had hitherto 
made in his holy career, was nothing in com¬ 
parison with what he had yet to attain. And 
thus, as if he were but a beginner, he applied 
himself with more fervor and devotion than 
ever to the practice of every virtue, and espe¬ 
cially to that of charity. Not that this divine 
virtue, which was, as it were, the soul of every 
other virtue in which this Saint excelled, 
began to be practised by him only after his 
profession. By no means. He had always 
loved and practised it even in his childhood, 
as I have elsewhere related ; yet, it had lain 
dormant, a captive and prisoner in the soli¬ 
tude of the novitiate. But as soon as he was 
at liberty to exercise it without prejudice to 
obedience, he set himself to attend on the 
sick with all imaginable fervor and humility. 
He remained in the infirmary as much as 
possible, to assist and console the poor suf¬ 
ferers. He prepared their food, he swept 
the room, made their beds, washed them, and 
rendered them every service in his power, 
without waiting for the orders of the supe¬ 
riors, who soon perceived that his excessive 


96 Si, Thomas of Villanova, 

charity prompted him to make these visits of 
his own accord. 

He was always anxious to be the first to 
undertake the most vile and abject occupa- 
bons in the monastery, endeavoring to anti¬ 
cipate the wishes and requests of those who 
needed his assistance. 

To exhort others to imitate him in these 
pious cares, he said sometimes to his friends, 
speaking to them in a familiar manner, and 
even in chapter to his religious, when he be¬ 
came superior, that the infirmary was like 
the bush of Moses, where he who devotes 
himself to the sick will assuredly find God 
among the thorns with which he will be sur¬ 
rounded. Where will a man find so many 
opportunities of practising the admirable 
virtues of patience, humility, and love, as 
among the crosses and trials which await him 
at every turn, at the bedside of the sick? 
Our Saint was so assiduous in his tender 
attentions to the poor invalids, and gained 
their love and esteem to such a degree, that 
they looked upon him and listened to him, 
as an angel sent from God, if not to cure, at 
least to strengthen and console them in their 
sufferings. 

But whilst thus employed, our Lord des¬ 
tined him for other and more important 


Tho77ias of Villanova. 97 

duties, by which he could serve Him better, 
and bring more glory to His name. For 
this end he commanded him, through his 
superiors, to prepare for Holy Orders. He 
was ordained priest at the age of thirty-three, 
some time after his profession, and celebrated 
his first mass on Christmas day, with an inex¬ 
pressible tenderness and devotion. He was 
completely absorbed in the contemplation of 
the favors and mercies that this Infant God 
brought to man by His birth; and remained 
in this state for some time, without being 
able to rouse himself. The meditation on 
this adorable mystery drew floods of tears 
from his eyes when he came to the hymn of 
the angels, Gloria in Excelsis, and to those 
wonderful words of the Preface, Quia per 
Iiicarnati Ve? bi 7nyste7Hu7n. These feelings 
of tenderness for the birth of our Lord, were 
so deeply impressed on his heart, that he 
always fell into transports and ecstasies 
whenever he offered the adorable Sacrifice 
on this holy day. When he was archbishop, 
he was accustomed to celebrate the two first 
masses of Christmas in his chapel, that none 
but his almoners might witness those divine 
operations which passed in his soul, and which 
he could not conceal because of the bright¬ 
ness and splendor which were spread over 


9^ S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

his countenance. After having finished his 
two masses, he retired into his oratory till 
the hour of office, when he went to the church 
to celebrate high mass. He usually per¬ 
formed this, being archbishop, with the same 
humility and modesty of apparel as he did 
when a simple religious. It is Impossible to 
read with any degree of attention, the ser¬ 
mons he has left to the public upon the mys¬ 
teries of this sacred night, without catching 
some sparks from that fire of devotion which 
this holy prelate breathed at the sight of the 
cradle and the infancy of Jesus. 

Such, then, was the beginning of his priest¬ 
hood ; and the end was conformable with 
the beginning. In every situation of his life 
he had loved retirement and prayer; but 
after he was elevated to the dignity of priest, 
and every day allowed, by the honor and 
obligation of his character, to approach the 
table of the Lord, he endeavored to make 
himself more and more worthy by redoubling 
his devotions. He assisted night and day 
in the choir, and in every necessary duty in 
the community. Nor was he less assiduous 
in his attentions to the sick. All his remain 
ing time was employed in preparing for 
mass, except a small portion which he allotted 
to his studies. 


►S/. Thomas of Villanova, 


99 


From the time that he first frequented the 
schools, he had acquired the habit of often 
making a serious examination of his feelings 
and conduct, to discover whether he had 
advanced or fallen back in the way of the 
spiritual life. He continued the same prac¬ 
tice after he was a religious, and performed 
it with still greater exactness when he be¬ 
came a priest, from the more fervent desire 
he had of attaining to perfection. He used 
to say, that it is a bad sign in a priest when 
he is seen every day to approach the altar 
without becoming better or more holy; con¬ 
firming his words by this saying of St. Ber¬ 
nard, “The religious who does not advance 
in the way of God, recedes.” It was for this 
reason he so carefully practised a daily 
examen, and recommended it to others, as a 
most important and necessary exercise for 
those who have any real regard for their sal¬ 
vation. 

It was by this means also that he learnt to 
regulate his time and his occupations so 
exactly, that he had not a single useless 
moment in the whole day, but labored con¬ 
tinually for his own spiritual profit, or that 
of his neiHibor, which he desired no less 
ardently than his own. 

He was never seen in the cells of others, 


lOO Thomas of Villanova, 

nor suffered any one to enter his own, unless 
charity required it. When he was compelled 
to open his door to speak to those who had 
business with him, he used as few words as 
possible in satisfying them, and quickly re¬ 
turned to his beloved retreat. Those who 
wished to see him, generally sought him in 
one or other of the five places he had conse¬ 
crated to the five sacred wounds of our Lord 
—the altar, the choir, the library, the infirm¬ 
ary, or his cell; for in any other place it was 
almost useless to seek him. 

One of his greatest sorrows was to see a 
religious idle and useless ; and if by chance 
he saw one without any employment, he 
would endeavor to remedy the evil by dis¬ 
creet and charitable means; and compared 
the religious without occupation to a soldier 
without arms, exposed to the attack of his 
enemy. 

All loved him. All in the monastery hon¬ 
ored him for his sweetness and his prudence. 
He used every means in his power to pre¬ 
serve peace in the community, and if there 
happened to be the least breach of concord 
between any of the brothers, he quickly 
united them again in the bonds of fraternal 
charity. He revered his superiors as those 
who held the place of God. The obedience 


'J 


lOI 


iSV. Thomas of Villanova, 

that he rendered them was prompt and 
ready, and he never offered reasons to obtain 
dispensations from their commands, or to 
delay in the slightest degree their execution. 

He Avas patient beyond measure, and hum¬ 
ble and affable to all men. Not that he 
conversed equally and familiarly with all, but 
with those only whose spirit and virtue were 
tried; remembering the counsel of the wise 
man, that we should bestow our love upon 
all men, but give our confidence only to a 
few. 


CHAPTER V. 

HE TEACHES THEOLOGY AT SALAMANCA. 

pleasure that he found in these holy 
J and devout exercises so entirely satis- 
fied his mind, that if it had been in his 
power, he would for ever have renounced all 
other things to remain as a simple religious, 
and to end his days in that hidden life which 
his soul loved. For he judged by the profit 
which he himself reaped from this sort of life, 
that it was the least perilous and the best 
calculated to lead on to that perfection, which 






102 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

he so ardently longed to attain. But the 
providence of God had other designs upon 
him. The grace given him to embrace a 
religious life, was only given to dispose and 
prepare him for employments more con¬ 
ducive to the glory of God, and the good 
of his fellow-men. His superior ordered 
him to teach theology in the monastery of 
Salamanca. He obeyed simply, without urg¬ 
ing any of those excuses which false humility 
so often makes use of, in order to be en¬ 
treated to do what is requested, and thus be 
exalted in the eyes of men. In his course, he 
explained the Master of the Sentences, keep¬ 
ing in his lectures the same order that this 
illustrious doctor observes in his four books, 
which contain the whole body of theology. 
He possessed a clear head, and a firm and 
solid judgment, but his memory was not so 
happy. He told Father Roderic, a cele¬ 
brated religious, that he had labored hard to 
supply this defect, being obliged to explain 
his lectures to the students of the monastery, 
and to other scholars of the university, who 
quitted their own classes to attend his. 

And yet, with this new charge, which was 
enough to occupy entirely an ordinary man, 
he relaxed in none of his exercises of piety 
and mercy, visiting and serving the sick 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 103 

according to his usual custom. He had his 
regular hours of meditation, and if he was 
sometimes prevented from assisting in choir, 
on account of his lectures, he was the more 
earnest and assiduous wlien he could do so. 
Those days on which he did not hear his 
classes, he was never missing from the 
office, and was most frequently seen at 
matins. 

Such was the life and conduct of this holy 
professor. Nothing was left undone on his 
part, to make his scholars skilful and learned 
theologians; but as he only regarded the 
glory of God, and the good of their souls in 
their advancement, he was much more anx¬ 
ious to see them humble and devout, than 
excelling in that knowledge which puffs up 
the mind. He exhorted them by his words, 
and still more by the example of his virtues 
and his holy life, to join the fear of God with 
the study of letters; because, he would say, 
“Science and doctrine, without piety, are like 
a sword placed in the hand of a child, who 
can make no good use of it, and may injure 
many.” At other times he would address 
those likely to fall into the opposite fault; 
for he equally blamed the mistake of many, 
who, under the pretext of piety, failed to apply 
themselves enough to study. He would say 


104 -SV. Thomas of Villaiiova, 

to them, that sanctity alone may be very 
advantageous to those who possess it, yet 
it is of little value as regards the church and 
our neighbor, unless united with a know¬ 
ledge of doctrine, of Holy Scripture, and of 
the Fathers, And that it is an abuse to 
imagine that the study of letters is incom¬ 
patible with devotion and interior recollec¬ 
tion in a monastery. 

That of the Augustinians of Salamanca was 
soon crowded with a number of excellent 
religious, raised by our Lord’s goodness to 
a high degree of piety and knowledge; all 
distinguished servants of God, perfect and 
apostolic men. Several of them went after¬ 
wards to the West Indies, to labor in the 
conversion of the new world. Among 
others were the fathers, Christolph of St. 
Martin, Peter of Pampeluna, John Cruzati, 
and above all. Father Jerome Ximenes, one 
of our Saint’s most familiar friends. This 
holy man, who, like his Master, sought only 
the means of glorifying God and procuring 
the salvation of souls, having learnt that an 
infinite number in America were lost for 
want of instruction and catechizing in our 
holy faith, entreated St. Thomas, as soon as 
he became Provincial, which was in the year 
1529, that he w^ould send him into those dis- 


6*4 Thomas of Villanova, 105 

tant regions, to labor in his Lord’s vineyard. 
St. Thomas, who well understood his charac¬ 
ter, consented to his earnest entreaties, and 
gave him as companions in his labors two 
of those before mentioned, with several 
others that he thought well fitted for this 
apostolic ministry. 

Among the gifts which this Saint had re¬ 
ceived, that which St. Paul calls the discern¬ 
ment of spirits, was very conspicuous in him. 
He had no sooner entered into conversation 
with a person, than he seemed to discover 
by an interior light what were his desires, 
thoughts, and inclinations. It was in this 
way he knew the zeal, the strength, and 
purity of intention of those holy laborers 
whom the Son of God called to the Indies 
to preach His Gospel. His joy and con¬ 
solation were extreme in sending them forth 
on this glorious mission; while at the same 
time he regretted deeply that his duties as 
Provincial would only allow him to accom¬ 
pany them in heart, and with his prayers. 
He embraced them tenderly on their depart¬ 
ure, and when they threw themselves at his 
feet, entreating his blessing, he said: “I give 
it you, as your father and superior. Go, my 
children, go, my brethren. He who sent His 
apostles to spread His Gospel throughout 


io6 SL Thomas of Vlllanova, 

the world, and to announce the glad tidings 
of salvation, is the same God who now sends 
you to preach our holy faith to the Gentiles. 
Fear not to cross the seas, however long and 
perilous your voyage may be. Go boldly 
from Christian countries to those of savage 
and barbarous nations; go courageously and 
with a confidence of success. For one of 
these two things is certain; either, by the 
grace of God, these idolatrous pagans will 
become faithful Christians, or it will be per¬ 
mitted, for your good, that they shall not 
believe your words, and will bestow on you 
the crown of martyrdom.” 

The event verified his words. At first the 
difficulties they met with seemed almost in¬ 
surmountable. But by their incessant labors, 
and unwearied efforts in preaching, joined to 
the example of their holy lives, accompanied 
by the miracles which our blessed Lord 
enabled them to perform, to confirm the 
truth of their doctrine, this ungrateful coun¬ 
try, which hitherto had produced only the 
thorns and briars of sin, became fertile and 
abundant in good works, through the thou¬ 
sands of souls that these first evangelical 
conquerors of the new world drew from the 
darkness of error and idolatry into the clear 
light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 107 

Before leaving this subject, to prove that, 
to St. Thomas of Villanova, under God, 
ought to be attributed the good effected by 
the fathers of this order for the glory of God 
and the propagation of our holy faith, we will 
here insert a letter of grateful acknowledg¬ 
ment, addressed to him by Father Jerome 
Ximenes, at a time when he was not Provin¬ 
cial, but only superior of the Augustinians of 
Burgos. By this we may see that that coun¬ 
try was indebted to him for many prayers, 
fasts, and other good works, performed with 
the intention of obtaining its conversion, as 
well as for sending them his religious as mis¬ 
sionaries, and procuring the means necessary 
for their subsistence. 

“Reverend Father, 

“The peace of God be with you. 

“ Our Fathers and Brethren, by the grace 
of God, all arrived safely in this city of 
Mexico, the sixth of September last, 1539. 
We are all of one accord in the belief that 
our Lord Jesus has prepared an ample and 
rich crown for your Reverence, since he 
inspired you to do so much for the achieve¬ 
ment of the holy work in which we are 
engaged. In reality we may call it your 
work; for you have contributed more than 
any other towards it. We owe you a deep 


io8 St Thomas of Villanova 

debt of gratitude, and are, in truth, the 
children of your much honored Paternity, for 
whom we feel a sincere and cordial affection. 
To testify our thanks in a worthy manner 
towards you, it would be necessary to write 
them in letters of gold, or rather in our own 
blood; still we trust that this will be sufficient 
to express to you the feelings of our hearts. 
But we doubt not that the Master in whose 
vineyard we are laboring by your means, has 
written your name in eternal and ineffaceable 
characters in the book of life. Certainly, 
His Divine Goodness clearly shows how 
agreeable our poor efforts to enlighten this 
unhappy nation are to Him, by the fruit 
which is every day produced from the seed 
of the word, and by the care he takes to send 
His ministers to discover new countries, and 
to make new conquests for the publication 
of His gospel. A year ago, a religious of 
St. Francis, a Frenchman, set out from these 
provinces to make discoveries where our 
governor had not yet been able to penetrate. 
After having travelled five hundred leagues 
of inhabited country, he came to a desert of 
sixty more, which he crossed, and arrived at 
a very populous kingdom, containing fortified 
cities, filled with beautiful and sumptuous 
edifices. The inhabitants were civilized, and 


S^. Thomas of Villanova, 


109 


most of them wore double robes of silk, after 
the fashion of the augurs of the ancient 
Romans, and resembling Europeans in all 
other respects. I will be silent as to the 
riches of this country, because what I should 
say would appear incredible. He found 
there an infinite number of temples dedicated 
to idols. Some of them were covered both 
within and without with emeralds, and other 
equally precious stones. Our Spaniards, 
whose desire of gold has led, and still leads 
them to encounter the perils of the southern 
coast, assures us in like manner, that they 
have discovered a number of large and 
beautiful islands near the land. I say this to 
your Reverence, that you may know what 
service you have rendered to our Lord in 
sending laborers into his vineyard, and also 
to induce you to send us many more, that we 
extend the knowledge of the Lord through 
the length and breadth of the land. As for 
those you last sent us, with the young man 
to whom you wish me to give the habit, they 
have arrived safely, after having encountered 
many perils and fatigues. But as we have an 
abundance of everything necessary for their 
refreshment, we shall endeavor to reestablish 
their health as soon as possible, and send 
them each one to his station, except the 
7 


no 5/. Thom as of Villanova. 

novice, and brother Diego of Vertaviglio, 
who remains as master of our young pro¬ 
fessed at Mexico. All here are by the grace 
of God in good health, and entreat Him with 
our whole hearts, that it may please Him to 
increase in you that charitable spirit which 
He has so liberally bestowed on you in favor 
of this holy work, and to preserve you in 
His grace. 

“Your very humble 

“Brother, Jerome Ximenes. 

“From Hapichetla, Oct. 9, 1539.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

OF THE WONDERFUL TALENT FOR PREACHING THAT GOD 
BESTOWED ON ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


will now resume the thread of the 
history that we left for a moment, to 
dwell on the mission of the disciples 
of this great Saint to the West Indies. 

His provincial, being informed of the great 
talents possessed by St. Thomas, not only 
for instructing in the schools, but also for 
preaching in the public pulpits, judged that 
it was high time a man of such acknowledged 








S^, Thomas of Villanova, 111 

merit and sanctity should appear in the 
world, to enlighten it with his doctrine, and 
to inflame it with the love of God by the 
example of his holy life. For this reason he 
ordered# him to close his instructions, and 
leave the pulpit of the schools to ascend that 
of the Church, in order to preach the Gospel, 
trusting that God, who had given him the 
requisite qualities for the office, would be 
glorified by him, and his neighbor edified. 

He obeyed the command of his superior 
without hesitation, firmly believing that in 
accomplishing his will he accomplished that 
of God, whom he revered in his person. 

The holy evangelist, speaking of the Son 
of God, takes especial notice of two things 
respecting His preaching*. In the first place, 
he says that having one day entered into the 
synagogue at Nazareth, He took the scrip¬ 
ture, and in explaining it, applied the passage 
of Isaias to Himself, saying it was of Him 
the prophet spoke these words: “ The Spirit 
of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord 
hath sent me; He hath sent me to preach to 
the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to 
preach a release to the captives, and deliver¬ 
ance to them that are shut up.” The second 
thing which he remarks is, the wonderful 
silence and gravity He always preserved; 


112 SL Thomas of Villaiiova. 

He, who is the Word of the Eternal Father, 
and who makes the tongues of infants elo¬ 
quent. By the first He teaches us how 
absolutely necessary it is for the preacher 
who would worthily acquit himselt of his 
ministry, to live holily, in order to draw down 
the Spirit of God into his soul, to retain Him 
there, and, as it were, oblige Him to water 
with His pure and heavenly dew the seed 
of the word which he is sowing, that it may 
be fruitful. And, moreover, that he ought 
not to engage of himself in this apostolic 
function, nor consult his own wishes, but 
should wait till the Spirit of God calls him, 
and speak to him by the express command 
of his superior. By the second He teaches 
us that the office of a preacher is no child’s 
play, but a most serious employment, leaving 
no room for the follies and giddinesses of 
youth. He who undertakes it should be 
especially careful that he does not contradict 
by his conduct the truths which his lips utter, 
and thus weaken the authority with which 
he ought to announce the holy doctrines of 
the Gospel. 

Our holy preacher entered upon his office 
with these necessary dispositions. He was 
of mature age, and the order of his superiors, 
which was the seal of his mission, together 


6'/. Thomas of Villanova, . 113 

with an abundance of very singular gifts and 
graces bestowed on him by God, enabled 
him to acquit himself worthily of his duties. 

Though in his manners and conduct he 
possessed the wisdom of the old, even in his 
early youth, yet he did not begin to preach 
till he was thirty-six, and even then not with¬ 
out an express command ; so great was his 
humility. It was an extraordinary thing to 
see how the rich and the noble flocked from 
all parts to see and hear him. Bishop Mug- 
natones, in his Abridgment of his Life, 
says, that he preached with such power and 
energy, and so great a demonstration of zeal 
for the salvation of souls, that his renown 
was spread throughout Salamanca, every one 
regarding him with almost the same admira¬ 
tion they would have felt had they seen one 
of the apostles, or an angel descended from 
heaven in a human form, to preach the Gos¬ 
pel. 

F'ather John Hurtado, a religious* of the 
order of St. Dominic, one of the most cele¬ 
brated theologians and greatest preachers 
then in Spain, finding some difficulty in what 
the great, the little, the simple, and the 
learned, all assured him as to the exceeding 
excellence of St. Thomas as a preacher, 
determined to judge for himself how far all 


114 . SL TJioinas of Vtllaiiova. 

that he heard was true. He saw and heard 
him; and at the end of the sermon, being 
struck with astonishment and quite overcome, 
he exclaimed that the doctrine which he 
preached was not studied in books, but came 
direct from heaven, and could only have 
been learned at the feet of Jesus Christ. 
Then again, considering the apostolic liberty 
with which he reproved vices, his power of 
persuading, the fire with which he inflamed 
all hearts, and that inimitable manner with 
which he induced men to reform their de¬ 
praved morals, to fly sin, and to embrace 
virtue, this great religious could not contain 
his admiration, crying out, “ Forever praised 
and blessed be our Lord and our God, for 
having given us in these times a Saint, and 
so admirable a minister of the Gospel. As 
to myself, I confess that I had difficulty in 
believing what I heard of this father, because 
it seemed to me that those accounts were 
exaggerated, but I say with truth, that what 
they then told me was nothing in comparison 
of what I have myself now seen.” 

Soon afterwards, he was entreated to 
preach the Lent sermons in the Cathedral of 
Salamanca, just at the time when all Spain 
was in commotion; most of the provinces 
revolting against the sovereign in the year 


6^4 Tho 7 nas of Villanova. 115 

1521. He preached with so much success, 
that the same Don Juan of Mugnatones, 
Bishop of Segovia, (who speaks as a witness, 
and as one of the conquests of this holy 
preacher, who drew him from the vanities of 
the world, to follow our Lord in the narrow 
way, by entering the order of St. Augustine,) 
assures us that he made so many and such 
remarkable conversions at Salamanca, that 
those who witnessed the change in this city 
said, that it seemed rather that Salamanca 
was turned into a monastery, than that there 
were monasteries in Salamanca; so great 
and so universal was the reformation of man¬ 
ners in all sorts of persons. All the religious 
houses of both sexes had an opportunity of 
making a rich harvest; every one was burn¬ 
ing so much with the fire of devotion with 
which this apdstolic man kindled all hearts, 
that not only those who made open profes¬ 
sion of virtue, but those who were the most 
attached to the world by sensual pleasures, 
and by the cares of riches, which our Lord 
calls thorns which choke the divine seed, 
came in crowds to hear him. 

Of all who listened to him, none could 
resist the fire of those ardent words which 
flowed from his inmost heart, to light in that 
of others the divine fire which burnt and con- 


Ii6 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

sumed his own breast. The most considera¬ 
ble fruit which God drew from his preaching, 
and the example of his holy life, consisted 
principally in the conversion of the greater 
part of the young people of Salamanca, who, 
eager to quit the world, pressed into every 
order, entreating to be admitted; so that not 
having room to receive all those who pre¬ 
sented themselves, the superiors were obliged, 
after filling their novitiates, to send the rest 
to the other towns of Castile, whose monas¬ 
teries were in like manner quickly filled; all 
of them publishing wherever they went, the 
wonderful talents with which God had blessed 
His servant. Even Philip the Second, hav¬ 
ing heard of the renown of this holy religious, 
was persuaded that he could not give his son 
Charles a better master, one more worthy or 
more capable of instructing him. He after¬ 
wards appointed him to the bishopric of Se¬ 
govia, thus giving the first proof of his sense 
of our Saint’s merits. 


CHAPTER VII. 


OF THE GKEAT VIKTUES WITH WHICH THE SAINT ACCOMPANIED 
HIS PKEACHINQ. 


T is very difficult for those who are con¬ 
stantly engaged in preaching, not, in 
time, to diminish somewhat of the rigor 
and severity of their lives; and espe¬ 
cially when they have gained a high reputa- 
tion, and are often sought after by hearers and 
others ; by the one to have their doubts re¬ 
solved, and by the others to receive counsels 
for the regulation of their life and conduct. 
This fatigue, added to the burden which the 
office of preacher necessarily brings with it, 
sometimes deprives him of the tranquillity 
and interior recollection which he enjoyed 
before he w^as induced by charity to take on 
himself this increase of duty. 

But although the numbers that flocked to 
our Saint, anxiously desiring his advice, when 
added to the labor of preaching, might have 
sufficiently occupied and indeed oppressed 
him, yet it did not excuse him to give to 
prayer and meditation less time than before, 
or to omit any of his accustomed fasts and 
abstinences. He appeared equally recol- 

117 





118 SL Thomas of Villan ova. 

lected in himself, and as great a lover of 
penance as before, afflicting his body by 
fasts, watchings, and by the privation of 
whatever could in the least degree flatter 
his senses. 

As he designed the good of others as 
much as his own, in all that he did, hoping 
to persuade his auditors of the necessity of 
penance by example as well as by words, 
our good God gave so much power to his 
preaching, that he, by his sermons, generally 
obtained his end, the salvation of sinners. 
As all knew assuredly that the Saint urged 
nothing upon others which he had not first 
practised himself, he carried away the minds 
and hearts of his hearers like a torrent, and 
led them to such feelings as he wished them 
to possess, to detach them from the love of 
sin, and to lead them in the end to the love 
of virtue. 

He was once asked by a friend, who was 
lost in admiration and wonder at the effects 
of his preaching, what books were, in his 
opinion, the best, and most adapted for 
those who exercise the ministry. “ Every 
book approved by the Church,” said he, “is 
good, and always giving the first place to 
the Holy Scripture, which is preferable to 
every other book, there is not one from 


S/. Thomas of VUlan ova. 119 

which the preacher may not derive much 
profit, provided only that he have these two 
qualities, holiness and humility.” He said 
also there was a strange error into which 
certain preachers were apt to fall; they 
destroy their health in the exercise of 
preaching, in order to benefit their neigh¬ 
bor, and entirely forget themselves; they 
think only of reforming the lives of others, 
while they neglect to correct their own ; the 
very thing with which they ought to begin. 
He also greatly condemned, not in public, 
but wdien in private with his friends, those 
preachers who depend too much upon their 
studies, and who, neglecting prayer, employ 
more time than they ought in amassing 
thoughts and conceptions from books, to be 
produced afterwards in the pulpit, imagining 
that to succeed in this science, it was more 
necessary to be studious men than men of 
prayer. To counteract this error, he col¬ 
lected a multitude of passages from Scrip¬ 
ture, proving how necessary it is for the 
evangelical preacher to apply himself seri¬ 
ously to the exercise of humility and of con¬ 
tinual and fervent prayer. 

What St. Thomas of Villanova recom¬ 
mended so strongly to others, he practised 
rigidly himself. He had acquired such a 


120 


Sf. Thomas of Villanova. 


habit of prayer, that, according to those who 
knew him best, his heart was constantly 
raised to God, speaking to Him interiorly 
in the midst of business and the most com¬ 
plicated occupations. It was the same, even 
after he became archbishop, whether giving 
audiences or replying to those who came to 
treat with him on matters of importance. 
Before he engaged in any affair, he was 
accustomed to retire into his oratory, and 
there throwing himself on his knees before 
a crucifix, to entreat Almighty God that it 
would please Him to teach him what he 
ought to say, and how he ought to behave 
on that occasion, that what was done might 
redound to His greater glory and the good 
of his neighbor. 

He was not curious or precise in speech. 
Nor did he pique himself on the beauty or 
ornament of his language. His discourse 
was well chosen, clear, and concise. He 
was always especially careful that the doc¬ 
trine he preached should be strong, devout, 
and full of the Spirit of God, that his auditors 
might receive it, not with praises and admira¬ 
tion, which he despised as dangerous and 
superfluous, but as a Christian ought to 
receive it, with a feeling of its coming from 
God, and with a sincere desire to amend and 



SL Thoracis of Villanova. 


I 21 


to become better for the future. Whence it 
often happened, after his sermons, that his 
hearers, bitterly deploring their sins, would 
throw themselves at the feet of a confessor, 
scarcely able to speak from the excess of the 
grief and regret which they felt within them. 

His name was known everywhere through¬ 
out Castile, especially at Burgos and Valla¬ 
dolid, where at that time Charles the Fifth 
held his imperial court. That sovereign, 
together with the empress, were astonished 
at what they heard of St. Thomas’ great 
talents for preaching; but when they listened 
to him themselves, they acknowledged he 
surpassed his reputation. Their majesties 
wrote immediately to his Provincial, to say 
that they would retain him for their ordinary 
preacher, and as such they wished that he 
might remain at Valladolid, for their par¬ 
ticular benefit. They assisted regularly at 
his sermons during Lent, as also on the 
Sundays and principal festivals of the yean 
together with a w^onderful concourse of peo¬ 
ple, of prelates, and of the grandees of Spain. 
The emperor sometimes came without either 
guard or retinue, that he might hear him 
more at his ease, remaining there in that 
state to the end, as an ordinary person 
would have done. 


CHAPTER VIIL 


CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT, WITH SOME EXAMPLES. 

wO constitute a true preacher of the gos- 
11 pel, it would have seemed sufficient to 
W possess the gifts and graces we have 
already seen carried to so high a 
degree of perfection in St. Thomas of Villa- 
nova. But the Holy Spirit, who intended to 
make use of him in an extraordinary way, 
had endowed him with two other virtues of 
great value in giving power and efficacy to 
his mission; that like another Jerome, he 
might destroy, build up, and edify. To 
speak correctly, they should rather be called 
graces and celestial favors than virtues, since 
all the efforts of the human mind are inca¬ 
pable of acquiring them, or giving them to 
others. God alone can grant them, of His 
infinite goodness and mercy, to whom He 
pleases and when He pleases. 

The first of these graces was a certain light 
or interior view, by means of which, when 
ascending the pulpit, he knew, or rather the 
Holy Spirit .discovered to him, the defects 
122 




S^. Thomas of Villanova, 123 

and spiritual necessities of his auditors, in 
order to apply the most appropriate remedy. 
The bishop of Segovia, in the Abridgment of 
his Life, mentions this peculiarity as very 
wonderful, his auditory being composed of 
such a variety of minds and of situations in 
life; viz., prelates, bishops, princes, counsel¬ 
lors, courtiers ; besides an innumerable con¬ 
course of people of all sorts and conditions. 
Yet all felt enlightened and inflamed by the 
power and brilliancy of the very same dis¬ 
course, as if he had uttered it for each one 
in particular, or as if they had already thrown 
themselves at his feet, enabling him, by an 
humble confession of their maladies, to apply 
the remedy he judged the most proper and 
salutary. And what is still more wonderful, 
his words being written and pronounced by 
the lips of another, had, in some sort, the 
same effect as when delivered by himself. 
Don Gasparo d’Avalos, Archbishop of Gra¬ 
nada, having to preach on one of the prin¬ 
cipal festivals of the church, and anxious to 
produce a great effect on the minds and 
hearts ofdiis people, entreated our Saint to 
gratify him with one of his conceptions, 
proper to that solemnity. He excused him¬ 
self at first, and endeavored to escape 
from granting the request; believing from 


124 kS 7 . Thomas of Villanova. 

the mean opinion he held of himself, that his 
productions were unworthy of notice. But 
the archbishop would take no denial, and he 
at length yielded to his wishes. 

Now although this prelate had all the parts 
of a good preacher, and was accustomed 
completely to satisfy his hearers, yet on this 
occasion he touched them to such a degree, 
that on his leaving the pulpit his chapter 
came to him in a body, expressing their admi¬ 
ration, and exclaiming they had never heard 
anything like it. “Gentlemen,” replied the 
archbishop, “ it is not astonishing you should 
be so affected, for what I have just said is 
not mine, but Father Thomas’ of Villanova, 
who communicated it to me, and who at the 
same time has given me a share of his spirit 
and zeal.” 

The other favor bestowed on St. Thomas 
by our Lord, was a very lively impression on 
his heart, and a deep feeling of the impor¬ 
tance of the subject on which he preached. 
So that although the divine fire which enkin¬ 
dled his heart was sufficiently known by the 
inflamed words which issued from his lips, 
yet the graces and favors which God show¬ 
ered upon him were still more visibly dis¬ 
covered by the ecstasies and transports of 
spirit, which were very usual with him. He 


S/. TJioirias of Villanova. 


125 


sometimes remained ravished and deprived 
for a time of the use of his senses, by the 
force and vehemence of the interior feeling 
which consumed his soul, at the considera¬ 
tion of the glorious mysteries of our faith. 
The ecstasy into which he fell one Holy Thurs¬ 
day in the presence of the emperor, was no¬ 
torious, and well known by every one in 
Castile. While preaching, when he came to 
those words of St. Peter, “ Lord, dost Thou 
wash my feet,” he entered so completely into 
their spirit and deep meaning while explain¬ 
ing them, and saying, “What, Lord, my feet! 
Thou who art my God, the glory of the 
angels, and all the beauty of heaven !” that 
he was, as it were, out of himself, absorbed, 
and ravished, and remained for some time 
without uttering another word, immovable as 
marble, and insensible to everything around 
him. No other sign of life was perceptible 
than the tears which flowed in abundance 
from his eyes which were fixed and raised 
towards heaven. 

In the year 1541, he was called to Toledo, 
to assist at the provincial chapter, by a letter 
from the Very Rev. F'ather Seripandus,"^ at 

* Jerome Seripandus, Cardinal Legate at the Council of Trent, 
was preconized, with two others—Ilosius a Pole, and Simonetta of 
Milan~by Pope Pius IV. in 1552. Pius III. had, previous to this, 
invited him to assist at the Council during its session at Bologna, 


126 


Si. Thomas of Villanova. 


that time general of the order, and afterwards 
cardinal legate of the pope, and president of 

where, according to the testimony of the learned Pallavicini, lie 
was held in the highest esteem by reason of the depth of his 
learning. In the question of reform he was charged to act with 
other wise and zealous prelates in preparing and revising the 
matter on this point, to be afterwards presented to the Council 
for approbation, and this, that ''the ancient beauty of the Church 
might he renewed and the mouth of her enemies he closed." The 
result of his labor was the chapters, “ On the Residence of 
Bishops," “ The Conferring of Orders," “ On Benefices," “ Cura¬ 
cies,'’ ''Episcopal Visitations," Clandestine Marriages," etc. He 
with Cardinal Hosius and four others, viz.. Eustache Bellay 
bishop of Paris, two other prelates, and Father Christopher Pado- 
vino, superior general of the Hermits of St. Augustine, were 
commissioned to write the doctrinal expositions that head the 
canons. He assisted also in chronicling the events of the Coun¬ 
cil at Trent and Bologna. The MSS. (in one large volume folio) 
are, some in the Museo Barberini at Bologna, the others in the 
library of St. Giovanni at Naples. Seripandus died on the 17th 
of March, 15G3, at Trent, and was buried there in the Au^us- 
tinian church of St. Mark. He had lived under the Buie of"St. 
Augustine for fifty-six years. His last words to those around 
him were, “ Why mourn ye as ones having no hope tSt Paul 
p the Thees., 1 Epist, iv. ch. 12 v.) Seripandus assisted at the 
first opening of the Council at Trent the 13th of December 154.5 
11th of March, 1547, as general of his order ; at the second'open- 
ing at Bologna, the 21st of April, 1547, 18th of September, 1549 
as Archbishop of Salerno; and at the third, at Trent, from 1561- 
03, as Cardinal Legate a latere. He was born in 1493 at the 

nr/ Tm"' ''"'i "'>‘3 of noble descent. He was 

skilled m the Hebrew, Greek and Chaldee, and in great esteem as 
a preacher He wrote many works, vis., a “Treatise on JuMfica- 
hon (,n Latin), •‘Notes (,n Latin) to the Epist. to the Galatians ” 
with answers to some questions on the text of the Canonical Epis- 
■ f'T'f C°“ ‘'"0 "Commentaries (Latin) on 

oft/fr n Galatians," “Exposition 

Abridgment oj the Constitutions of the Order of St. Augustine, with 


127 


St Thomas of Villanova. 

the Council of Trent. Father Seripandus In¬ 
tended to make him provincial and his vicar- 
general in Spain. St. Thomas, however, 
delayed his journey until, according to cus¬ 
tom, and the rules of the order, he knew 
the provincial would be elected, fearing they 
would impose the charge on him. The Very 
Rev. Father was much displeased with him ; 
yet when he arrived he could not refrain 
from embracing him warmly, so high was the 
esteem he felt for his character, and so great 
his joy at seeing him again. Without show¬ 
ing any resentment, he accosted him in this 
cordial manner, “My son, why have you de¬ 
layed to come ? Certainly your brethren and 
I have much desired to see you.” He then 
ordered him to ascend the pulpit the next day, 
which was the feast of St. Michael, and the 
Sunday of the chapter. He obeyed without 
hesitation, not alleging in excuse, as he might 
reasonably have done, the little time for pre¬ 
paration given him. He treated in his ser¬ 
mon of the constant care and providence of 
God over His church, and over all the faith¬ 
ful, and of the debt of gratitude we all owe 

a brief history of the same Order from its rise in Africa up to his time; 
nineteen “ Sermons on the Lord's Prayer," a treatise “ On the Art 
of Praying," a “ Funeral Oration over the Emperor Charles V.,” a 
“ Treatise on Justice and Christian Liberty," with fifteen vols. of 
historical, philosophical, Scriptural and theological essays. 


128 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

to our heavenly Fatlier for whatever good 
we possess, and for Ills deputing one of His 
holy angels to watch over each of us. Having 
chosen as his text the verse of the 107 th 
Psalm, “ Who will bring me into the strong 
city? Who will lead me into Edom?” he 
thus addressed the general: “ My Very Rev. 
Father, this verse that I have taken as the 
subject of my discourse, teaches us that he 
who is a citizen of heaven, is a stranger and 
pilgrim here below.” In saying these words 
our Lord gave him so strong an interior 
feeling of tenderness, that he fell into an 
ecstasy, not being able to speak, yet shedding 
floods of tears in the presence of that illustri¬ 
ous audience, who were surprised-and aston¬ 
ished at seeing him preach so divinely with 
his eyes and by his silence. After having 
remained some time in this state, by a violent 
effort to repress this powerful feeling he recov¬ 
ered himself, and returning to his subject, he 
pursued it with a reasoning so sublime and 
elevated, that the theologians who were pre¬ 
sent in great numbers from divers places and 
of divers orders, all agreed that, humanly 
speaking, it was utterly impossible he could 
have learned such eloquence in any other 
school than in that of the Holy Spirit, who 
had Himself inspired him with it. 


SL Thomas of Villanova. 129 

A similar thing happened to him when he 
was prior at Burgos, and was giving the 
habit to a novice. All the town collected on 
this occasion, knowing that the Saint would 
open the ceremony by an exhortation they 
were most desirous to hear. The tender 
age of the novice led him to take as the sub¬ 
ject of his discourse these words of the Can¬ 
ticle, “ Soror nostra pavvida est et ubera non 
' JiabetT As soon as he began to sound the 
depths of these words, he fell into an ecstasy 
as before, and remained a full quarter of an 
hour without speaking. Then recovering 
himself, and throwing his eyes around him 
he said^ “Brethren, I ask your pardon. I 
have a poor and weak heart, and I feel 
ashamed of being so often overcome on these 
occasions; but I will endeavor to repair my 
fault.’' Upon which he resumed his subject, 
concluding it with wonderful success. Father 
John of St. Michael, prior of the Augustinians 
of Saragossa, who was present, relates that 
these raptures were very frequent vv^ith'the 
Saint, especially in choir assisting at the office, 
where he was often seen elevated from the 
ground. The ecstasy into which he fell on 
one Ascension day was considered the long¬ 
est and most wonderful. When they began 
to sing the antiphon, Videntibus illis, at the 


130 SL JJioinas of Villanova. 

hour of None, he entered so completely into 
the words, that it seemed as if his soul had 
abandoned his body from the morning until 
five in the evening, in order to accompany in 
spirit the glorious triumph of our Lord on 
the Mount of Olives ; there appearing not 
the least sien of life in him all that time. It 
was also noticed on another occasion that he 
was divinely transported in spirit upon Mount 
Tabor when he came to those Avords, DoiriLiie 
bonum est nos hie esse; imaeinincr himself 
among the apostles and prophets, contem¬ 
plating the Son of God in His glorious trans¬ 
figuration. Yet far from being exalted by 
these favors, bestowed on him by our Lord 
for the purpose of revealing the deep reve¬ 
rence His servant had for His Holy Word, 
he endeavored as much as possible to hide 
them from the eyes of all men. 


CIIAPTKll TX. 


OF Ills CONDUCT IN THE RELIGIOUS OFFICES IMPOSED ON HIM. 

.]j|N addition to the q^races and virtues 
3 I already mentioned, St. Thomas of Villa¬ 
'll nova possessed a singular prudence and 
discretion ; and he was endowed with 
good sense and a solid judgment, accom¬ 
panied with that dovelike simplicity so highly 
recommended to His disciples by the Son of 
God. Every one struck with such extraordi¬ 
nary acquirements, with his holiness, and the 
admirable nature of his instructions, hastened 
eagerly to him, to obtain the benefit of his 
counsels for the regulation of their lives or 
the quieting of their consciences. 

He was admired and respected by all the 
great men of the court. Don Juan de Ta- 
vera, cardinal archbishop of Toledo and con¬ 
stable of Castile, never undertook anything 
of the slightest difficulty without first con¬ 
sulting him, so great was the opinion he en¬ 
tertained of his wisdom. 

At the sacred tribunal of penance he was 
unequalled, uniting gentleness, firmness, and 

131 



132 SL Thomas of VUlanova. 

prudence together, in an incomparable man¬ 
ner. His thirst for the salvation of souls was 
insatiable. He was naturally so benign and 
easily led to compassion, that the moment he 
found a penitent at his feet confessing his 
sins, his heart was softened and his words 
full of tenderness. However great his love 
of retirement, he was always willing to quit 
it for the duties of the confessional, to change 
the sweets of solitude in order to soothe the 
heart of the mourner in that holy Sacrament. 
Never did he show any sign of impatience or 
disgust, however wearisome or hateful the 
matter of confession might be. On the con¬ 
trary, he wept and groaned with those who 
wept and groaned ; and while showing them 
the enormity of their offences, to lead them 
to repentance and a true sorrow, he at the 
same time consoled them, and encouraged 
them to wipe out their sins by tears and a 
holy and salutary penance. 

His boundless charity, which led him to 
encounter any labor for the good of souls, 
often drew from the very edge of the preci¬ 
pice to the gate of salvation, those who at 
the sight of their sins would otherwise have 
rushed headlong into the gulf of despair. 

That conduct which made people of the 
world revere him as a saint, endeared him 


kS/. Thomas of Villanova, 133 

especially to the religious of his province, 
who soon raised him to the offices of 
the order, without waiting for the time of 
profession, as their constitution demanded. 
They rightly jutiged that the defect of time 
was more than sufficiently supplied by his 
extraordinary merit. For several years he 
was superior of the principal convents of 
Castile, among others of Salamanca and 
Burgos. At the latter of these he loved 
especially to dwell, not only on account of 
the quiet and tranquillity of the place, but 
because of the devotion he bore to the holy 
crucifix, which by its miraculous sweat ren¬ 
ders the church of the Augustinians, where it 
is honored, one of the most famous in all 
Spain. The convent at Valladolid was also 
blessed for some time with his superintend¬ 
ence, the emperor, who resided there, being 
desirous of his presence for his own spiritual 
benefit. 

Though called by holy obedience to com¬ 
mand, he behaved towards all as if he were 
their inferior. No change was perceptible 
in him, except that he was noticed to be more 
zealous and fervent than ever in all the exer¬ 
cises of religion. He considered that as in 
authority he was raised above others, he was 
bound to set them a good example by sur- 


134 


S^. Thomas of Villanova. 


passing them in the practice of every virtue. 
He meditated continually on the admirable 
advice given by St. Augustine, in his rules, 
to the superiors of his order, where he tells 
them that they ought to impress deeply on 
their minds, that the only happiness of com¬ 
manding consists in the power it bestows of 
serving others. That it is certainly necessary 
that inferiors honor and respect their supe¬ 
riors ; but that the duty of superiors consists 
in humbling themselves, from the fear of 
God, even at the feet of those they command ; 
in setting them an example in every good 
work; in correcting haughty spirits; in en¬ 
couraging the pusillanimous; in bearing with 
all; in being ready to take the penances of 
the weak, and to be cautious and tender in 
imposing them on any. He further adds, 
that although both niay be necessary, it is far 
better to gain inferiors by love than by fear; 
and that it should never be forgotten that 
Almighty God will call superiors to give a 
strict account of all those He has committed 
to their care. 

St. Thomas acquitted himself well of his 
charge. He saw the importance and excel¬ 
lence of this advice of St. Augustine’s, and 
practised it to the very letter. He was the 
first to engage in the most abject and menial 


S^. Thomas of Villanova. 135 

offices of the house, and others, admiring his 
conduct, soon imitated him. His exemplary 
humility superseded the necessity of com¬ 
manding. All obeyed his very wishes with 
a ready cheerfulness, seeing one whose holi¬ 
ness was revered not only throughout Spain, 
but the whole world, treating them with the 
affability and affectionate familiarity of an 
equal. Yet he well knew the art of uniting 
gravity with humility in such a manner, that 
every one paid him the respect due to his 
situation; his familiarity never lessening the 
dignity of his office. 

He labored incessantly to lead his religious 
on to perfection. He ardently desired that 
they should be pious and modest in their 
deportment, devout at the altar and the 
divine office, and at all times filled with a 
spirit of interior recollection, without which 
he considered all exterior show of religion 
as utterly useless. He mourned as deeply 
for the sins of those under his authority as 
if he had committed them him.self; fasting 
and disciplining himself, even to blood, for 
faults in which he had no other share than 
what his charity induced him to take on him¬ 
self. He was not of the number of those 
whom the Evangelist reproves as loading 
the shoulders of others with heavy burdens 


136 6^4 Thomas of Villanova. 

•whilst refusing to help them with one of their 
fingers; on the contrary, he would never ac¬ 
cept of any dispensation from the strict ob¬ 
servance of the rule himself, and yet to others 
he was lenient and gentle, releasing them 
from the performance of certain things, when 
he could do so without prejudice to the laws 
of God. 

As he loved peace and tranquillity, he was 
the declared enemy of all kinds of novelties, 
because he considered them as almost inva¬ 
riably the fruitful seed of troubles and dis¬ 
sensions. For this reason he changed noth¬ 
ing in his monastery, but strictly adhered to 
the laws of his ancestors. He was a great 
lover also of justice and equity, which caused 
him to be very exact in the infliction of those 
punishments deserved by any of his religious. 
At the time when the offence was committed, 
he said nothing to them, but waited a fitting 
opportunity to reprove them, using gentle¬ 
ness or severity, as he thought most advisa¬ 
ble, but always with profit to the offender, 
who, being no longer under the influence of 
the passion which caused his fault, received 
the correction of his superior with gratitude 
and humility, and as a mark of his prudence 
and love. 

Sometimes even a single glance of his eye 



Thomas of Villanova, 137 

was sufficient to cure their spiritual maladies. 
At other times, though he knew by the light 
of the Spirit of God all their tempers and 
inclinations, he would conceal his knowledge, 
and appear not to notice the faults of 
some of his religious, hoping that without his 
speaking to them, God would open their 
eyes, and provide the remedy. Of several 
instances which might be given in proof of 
this, one will be sufficient. When prior at 
Burgos, he knew that one of his religious, 
Father John Ringon, had fallen into a very 
considerable fault, and richly deserved pun¬ 
ishment; yet he permitted him to escape, 
saying nothing to him of what had passed. 
But God, to whom he recommended him in 
his prayers, accompanied with fasts and dis¬ 
ciplines, touched his heart with so lively a 
sense of the greatness of his fault, that he 
made a sincere confession, and was ever 
afterwards regarded by his brethren as a 
perfect model of a religious. Now as this 
Father John knew that our Saint could not 
be ignorant of his fall, he was astonished 
that he treated him with his usual kindness, 
and even gave him the preference to his 
brethren in choosing him as his companion 
when he went to take possession of the 
archbishopric of Valentia. Quite overcome 


13 S 6 '/. Thomas of Villanova. 

with this distinction, the father asked him 
why, with the knowledge which he knew he 
must possess of his misery, he had honored 
him by this choice. “ My son,” replied he, 
“it is true that I know your fault, but I also 
know you have done penance for it. Love 
God, and serve Him faithfully.” 

His patience in bearing with the infirmities 
of all, made his government mild and amiable. 
He measured each, not according to his 
strength, but his charity. He condescended 
to the weak, aroused the indolent, and en¬ 
couraged the cowardly; giving counsel to 
the simple, and making himself all things to 
all men. Though his care of the sick had 
always been great, he increased it tenfold 
when he became superior. All the time he 
could spare was given to them; serving, 
assisting, and consoling them. Whatever 
were his occupations, he never passed a day 
without visiting the infirmary two or three 
times, and always contrived to meet the 
physician there. He fed them with his own 
hand, and rendered them every other assist¬ 
ance with as much love and tenderness as if 
each had been a beloved brother. He also 
provided for the whole community with the 
same care and charity, anticipating all their 
wants in so thoughtful a manner that his 


S/. Thomas of Villanova, 139 

religious were never deprived of anything 
which their rule allowed. 


CHAPTER X. 

ST. THOMAS IS ELECTED PROVINCIAL TWICE CONSECUTIVELY IIT 
TWO DIFFERENT PROVINCES. 


J S he naturally loved solitude, and had no 
greater joy than that which he expe- 
^ rienced when praying in his cell at the 
foot of his crucifix, or in studying the Holy 
Scriptures, the charges imposed on him in 
the order were a heavy burden to him. 
Nevertheless, having through obedience once 
accepted them, he made a virtue of necessity, 
to use a common expression, and offered, as 
a sacrifice to his Lord, the distaste and repug¬ 
nance he felt in commanding; and, without 
showing his dislike, he performed his duties 
with all the prudence and charity which has 
been already described. 

On surrendering the office of prior, he was 
twice elected provincial in the two provinces 
into which Castile had been divided by , an 
apostolic brief of Clement VII., to facilitate 
the visiting of convents by diminishing the 



140 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

extent of the province. Both demanded him. 
with many entreaties; but as it was the 
province of Andalusia in favor of which this 
division had been made, it was preferred to 
that of Castile, which did not obtain him as 
provincial till the next triennial election. 
He made use of every means his ingenious 
humility could suggest, to be exempt from 
this charge. He endeavored in both cases 
to persuade the fathers not to elect him, 
alleging at first his incapacity for such an 
office; and seeing this reason was not 
accepted, he had recourse to another, which 
he had not yet employed. He represented 
to them that it was for the glory of God and 
the salvation of souls, that he should apply 
himself rather to preaching than to the office 
of provincial, which demanded a man’s whole 
time and energies, and which would be far 
better filled by many of the fathers more 
worthy and more fitted for it than himself. 
He depended upon this argument, and 
thought the fathers would have regard to 
the glory of God, which seemed concerned in 
it, and would press him no further. But it 
happened otherwise. They answered him, 
thct not to submit to an election which had 
been made with all the proper forms, and not 
to accept a charge in which he could render 


6'/. Thomas of Villanova, 

such good service to God and the province, 
was evidently to resist His holy will; that, 
certainly, according to the constitutions of 
the order, no religious could be forced to 
accept an office, having the care of souls, 
against his will; but still, they could not see 
how he could free himself from the sin of 
disobedience, if he refused the whole body 
of the province, which had elected him so 
canonically, and which persisted so steadily 
in its demand. Being at length conquered 
by these and similar reasons, he acquiesced, 
and yielded to their wishes. 

On his election, lie began at once to 
consider that as his power and authority 
increased, so ought his virtue also. “For,’* 
said he, “ as I am greater and more elevated 
in station, I ought to be more humble, holy, 
merciful, devout, and given to prayer, since I 
have more need than ever of the assistance 
of God’s Holy Spirit, that it may please him 
to enlighten me in the discharge of an office 
on which depends the good or evil, both 
spiritual and temporal, of the whole pro¬ 
vince.” He immediately set about making 
his visits, and overlooked all the convents 
with an indefatigable zeal. He encouraged 
the good religious, and excited them to go 
onwards in the road to perfection; the 
9 


142 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

negligent and the idle he reproved; he 
instructed the ignorant, and exhorted each 
one of the order to labor for his salvation, 
in serving God faithfully, according to the 
spirit of his vocation. 

Amongst others, there were* four things 
which he particularly recommended in his 
visits. The first was, that they should all be 
devout and exemplary in their conduct during 
the divine office and the celebration of holy 
mass; and that the churches and the altars 
should be kept clean and properly dressed, 
“inasmuch,” said he, “as they are the portals 
through which all blessings come to us, both 
from God and man.” In the second place, 
he urged strongly the necessity of frequent 
spiritual reading and meditation, comparing 
it to the natural heat of the stomach, which 
digests, strengthens, and preserves the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the body in health. “In like 
manner,” said he, “spiritual reading recollects 
and strengthens the mind of the religious, 
making him bring devotion to the altar and 
attention to the choir; giving him the spirit 
of ready obedience, endurance in labors, 
strength against the snares and temptations 
of the devil, and, in short, arranging and 
disposing all the feelings of the heart so 
skilfully, that everything succeeds happily 


Thomas of Villanova. 143 

with those who practise it in the spirit it 
demands. The third thing which he enforced 
as most important and necessary in the 
religious life, was peace; representing to 
them the advantages and blessings which 
that daughter of heaven brings on earth to 
men of good-will; and if by chance he found 
some restless unquiet spirit in the convent 
troubling the brethren, he punished him 
severely as a disturber of the public repose. 
In the fourth place, he earnestly solicited his 
religious to use well every moment of their 
time, to occupy themselves in whatever holy 
and useful employment best suited their 
inclinations, and to fly idleness as the pest 
and entire ruin of all virtue. 

He so mortally hated the waste of time in 
monasteries, that though he issued as few 
commands as possible to the superiors, lest 
he might burden their consciences, yet to 
remedy the fault of idleness, he made use 
of his authority in enjoining them, in virtue 
of holy obedience, to reprove for the first 
time with mildness those religious who were 
seen idling here and there about the house, 
but if the fault was repeated, to correct them 
in full chapter. For a third offence, he 
adjudged the punishment of the discipline, 
and if after this the fault continued, he 


144 •5'/. Thomas of V^illanova. 

ordered that the punishment should be aug¬ 
mented until amendment ensued. 

To lead his religious to a love of regular 
observance, he used towards them the same 
affability and condescension that he employed 
in gaining strangers and penitents to a love 
of God. His horror of sin was so great, that 
he would willingly have laid down his life to 
prevent the commission of only a single one. 
And when some unhappy sinner presented 
himself before him, he received him with love 
and tenderness, after the example of the 
good Shepherd, who carries His wandering 
lamb on His shoulders, rejoicing in bringing 
it back to the flock. It is impossible to say 
how many souls he gained to God by means 
which his prudence and charity invented to 
win their hearts. 

In his public admonitions he endeavored 
to edify all, without giving offence to any 
one. At the chapter which opened his visit, 
he always began his discourse by giving 
general instructions on whatever subject he 
thought most necessary; but in the latter 
part, when it was absolutely necessary to go 
into particulars, his reproofs and corrections 
were made with so much discretion and 
suavity, that they pierced the heart with¬ 
out arousing the pride of any, because, 


SL Thomas of lallanova. 145 

though his words were grave and severe, 
they were entirely free from the least shadow 
of bitterness or contempt. 

His zeal for the spiritual improvement of 
his religious did not make him forget their 
temporal interests, on which he bestowed all 
the care his office required. Our Lord had 
indeed given him the true monastic spirit and 
love of the community. It was well known 
that he retained none of the valuable pre¬ 
sents which the emperor made him, and 
which excited the envy of the grandees of 
Spain. Whatever was given him w^as thrown 
into the common mass, and nothing reserved 
for his own use. His cell, his bed, his 
clothing, even his books, which were few, and 
merely those which were necessary, indeed 
everything which he possessed, breathed the 
spirit of poverty and religious simplicity; he 
conformed himself in the use of ordinary 
necessaries to the lowest brother in the 
order. 

Of the numerous things which were offered 
him he only accepted those which could 
be applied to the service of the monastery, 
and to the common profit, not to his own 
use. Leaving Valladolid for Burgos, where 
he had been elected superior, certain pre¬ 
sents were offered him by persons of distinc- 


146 S/. Thomas of Villanova, 

tion, which he gratefully accepted, because 
given him to use as he thought best; but he 
refused the offer of a casket containing three 
hundred crowns of gold, because it was to 
be applied to his own use and the expenses 
of his journey. He humbly thanked the 
giver, but returned the casket unopened, 
saying that he had no need of it. When 
pressed by this friend, who complained that 
he had accepted gifts from others, he replied, 
“Yes, sir, I have taken alms from some of 
my friends, but they were given not for 
myself, but for the convent of Burgos, where 
I am going. If your gift had not been 
assigned for my especial benefit, I should 
without doubt have accepted it, otherwise I 
should have injured the house of Burgos, 
which greatly stands in need of assistance.” 


CHAPTER XT. 


ST. THOMAS IS ALLIED IN FRIENDSHIP WITH THOSE ONLY 
WHOM HE KNOWS TO BE VIRTUOUS AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS 
OF GOD. 


t [KE loves like,” is an axiom, the truth 
of which is universally recognized, not 
only in the ordinary productions of 
nature, but also in those of grace and 
the farthest removed from matter. We see 
every day that the saint and the just man 
withdraw as much as possible from the com¬ 
pany of the wicked, to associate with those 
who are professedly virtuous, and who by the 
secret emotions of the same zeal, endeavor, 
like themselves, to bring honor and glory 
to their common Master, remembering the 
answer made by our Lord to him who inter¬ 
rupted his sermon by informing Him that 
His mother and His brethren were without, 
seeking Him: “Who is My mother and who 
are My brethren ? And stretching forth His 
hand to His disciples. He said. Behold My 
mother and My brethren. For whosoever 
shall do the will of My Father who is in 
heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and 
mother.” Our Saint, who had impressed 


147 





148 SL Thomas of Villaiiova, 

deeply on his heart the precepts of this 
Divine Legislator, following his example, 
regarded no one with the eyes of flesh and 
blood, but only with those of charity, which 
have God for their object. He never at¬ 
tached himself by friendship to those whose 
virtues were not well known, and who, by a 
kindred feeling of piety and devotion, sought 
with him to advance the glory of God, and 
the good of souls. His inclination for retire¬ 
ment left him very little time for conversa¬ 
tion with his religious, and still less with 
seculars, unless their spiritual good, which 
he endeavored to procure at all times and 
in all places, drew him from his beloved soli¬ 
tude. So that whenever he was seen to 
associate familiarly with any one, it was im¬ 
mediately decided that he could be no ordi¬ 
nary person, but one in whom God had 
placed great gifts, to be employed conjointly 
with the Saints in His service. 

Among his most intimate friends was 
Father Diego of Vertaviglio, twice provincial 
of the Indies, where he built three monas¬ 
teries of the order at Ucarco, Talaicapan, and 
Tototepee, after having converted an infinite 
number of pagans to the faith. Also the 
Fathers Salazar, Jerome Melendes, Balthazar 
Malgaregio, Alphonsus Alvarado, and John 




kS/. Thomas of Villanova, 149 

Baptist of Moya, all great and celebrated 
religious, whom the Spirit of God had filled 
with an ardent and truly apostolic zeal to be 
the first to plant the standard of the cross, 
and announce the gospel to Peru and the 
Moluccas; our Lord enabling them to work 
there several miracles to establish their 
authority and their doctrine in the eyes of 
the barbarians. 

It was with such persons that St. Thomas 
formed his habits and contracted his friend¬ 
ships, drawn to them by their virtues and 
holiness of life. He considered not the 
advantages of nobility, knowledge, or any 
of those qualities which men of the world 
idolize. He frequently repeated these words 
of the Saviour, “ He is My brother and My 
friend, who does the will of My Father.” 
And in fact, he had much more pleasure in 
discoursing with a simple brother whom he 
knew to be pious and faithful to his vocation, 
than with the learned, who had less of humi¬ 
lity and devotion. It was the same with 
seculars; however rich and powerful they 
might be, if they were not wise, devout, and 
retired, he was never familiar with them, nor 
admitted them to his friendship, as he did 
the poor virtuous man, though he might be 
despised and disregarded by every one. 


150 kS 7 . Thofnas of Villanova, 

The instance which he himself relates in his 
first sermon on the Blessed Sacrament, will 
suffice to show how muc^ he loved, and in 
what manner he cultivated piety, wherever 
he met with it. 

A young man who had been brought from 
Judaism to the true faith by a miraculous 
and extraordinary effect of the goodness of 
God, found that although he had been 
washed from the guilt of original sin in the 
salutary waters of baptism, yet there existed 
in the minds of the Catholics around him so 
strong a feeling of horror against his extrac¬ 
tion and his former belief, that they all 
shunned his approach and avoided having 
any intercourse with him. St. Thomas hear¬ 
ing this, admitted him to his friendship, often 
heard his confessions, and treated him with 
the kindest familiarity, seeing in him that 
pure and lively faith which made him agree¬ 
able in the sight of the Divine Majesty, and 
totally disregarding the false notions of men. 
Soon afterwards this new Christian fell ill, 
and as it was uncertain whether he could 
recover or not, he sent for our Saint, not 
only to receive from him the consolations 
which his state required, but also to make a 
recital of something which our Lord had 
deigned in his infinite goodness to make 




SL Thomas of Villanova, 151 

known to him, and which he thought ought 
not to be buried with him in the tomb. Until 
this time he had preserved a strict secrecy 
on the subject, having learnt that God wishes 
not that his servants should publish the 
extraordinary favors and graces bestowed on 
them. “Father,” said he, “I have troubled 
you to come here, both to aid me to die well, 
and to fortify me by your holy counsels in 
that last passage, and also to open my heart 
to you on a subject which I have hitherto 
kept secret. You should know then. Father, 
that as I was once going with another young 
Hebrew to a place where my father had sent 
me on some business, we discoursed together 
of the Messiah, saying to each other, what 
a great happiness it would be if He should 
come in our days, and we should see Him 
with our own eyes. Speaking in this way as 
still covered with the thick veil which blinds 
the eyes of the Jews, the heavens appeared 
to us to open, and to disclose so bright a 
light, that the darkness of the night vanished 
in a moment. On relating this to my father, 
he told me that whenever the heavens open 
in this manner, it is a sign that God intends 
to bestow some favor on men, and that it 
ought to be demanded with submission to 
the will of God, but also with a firm hope of 


152 S^. Tho 7 iias of Villanova. 

obtaining it. My companion and I followed 
this counsel, and redoubled our prayers and 
entreaties that it would please the King of 
Heaven to send us the Messiah, for whom 
we so ardently longed. In the midst of our 
prayers, at their greatest fervor, behold, we 
we both saw at the same moment, in a globe 
of light, a resplendent chalice and a host 
above, like that which the Christian priest 
elevates In saying mass. At first the vision 
frightened us, but we were soon consoled by 
means of the heavenly light which shone in 
our hearts, and made us feel and know that 
there was no other Messiah than He whom 
the Christians adore, and that the truths 
which they believe and teach are those alone 
which ought to be received in all humility 
and confidence. We returned a thousand 
thanks to our good Lord for His merciful 
condescension to us poor miserable sinners. 
I took care to say nothing to my father 
of what happened, still less did I disclose 
to him the design I had formed of embracing 
Christianity, from fear of the Ill-treatment I 
should experience at his hands. But on the 
first occasion which presented itself, I failed 
not to receive holy baptism, and I have ever 
since lived in the observance of the evangeli¬ 
cal law of my Lord Jesus Christ.’' 


Sf. Thomas of Villanov%, 153 

The devout reader will be able to judge 
by so happy a beginning, to what a height of 
perfection this new plant of the Church by 
degrees attained, and whether our Saint was 
not right in cherishing him so carefully, not¬ 
withstanding the unjust aversion that others 
entertained tow^ards him on account of his 
birth. Our Saint w^as certainly gifted wdth 
the power of discovering the holiness of 
others; he sometimes even saw our Lord 
pouring His light into his soul, in order to 
penetrate the souls of others, to judge of 
their future conduct, and what w^ould injure 
or advance their salvation. 

As he made his visit to the convent of 
Seville where the novitiate was, learning 
from the Father Master that one of the 
novices had been tempted, by the instigation 
of his relations, to leave the order of St. 
Augustine for another, he addressed him in 
this manner: “Go, my son, recommend your¬ 
self to God, and join your prayers with mine, 
that it will please Him to make knowm to me 
what he expects from you, and whether it is 
for your good to make this change which 
your relations desire.” At the end of three 
days he summoned him into his presence 
and said to him, “My son, I tell you abso¬ 
lutely, that it is not the will of God that you 


154 'Thomas of Villanova, 

should quit this habit for another. Your 
first vocation is without doubt the best, and 
if under pretence of finding something better 
elsewhere, you follow the promptings of flesh 
and blood in preference to the advice I here 
give you, and leave this monastery for that 
which you mention, and where you are only 
called by the consideration that one of your 
relations is a religious there, I declare to you, 
on the part of God, that you will never have 
the happiness of serving Him either there or 
anywhere else.” The novice believed him, 
shut his ears to the persuasions of his rela¬ 
tions, vanquished the demon who made use 
of them to seduce him, made his profession 
happily, and became one of tlie most cele¬ 
brated religious of his time, conformably to 
what the Saint had predicted, who sent him 
some time afterwards to pursue his studies 
at Salamanca. 




CHAPTER XII. 


ST. THOMAS REFOSKS THE ARCHBISHOPRIC OF GRANADA AND 
ACCEPTS THAT OF VALENTI A. 

HILE St. Thomas was occupied in visit¬ 
ing the convents of his province, and 
with an ardent zeal endeavoring to 
promote the spiritual welfare of the 
religious under his care, our Lord, who des¬ 
tined him for an employment more conducive 
to His glory and more useful to His Church, 
in order to exercise his humility, led the em¬ 
peror, without any solicitation whatever, to 
name him to the archbishopric of Granada, 
then vacant. This sovereign well knew his 
merits, and that it would be pleasing to God 
and a signal benefit to this diocese, to give 
them so holy and learned a man as prelate. 
He, therefore, summoned him into his pre¬ 
sence, to inform him of his choice; but the 
Saint, with the greatest possible modesty, 
entreated his majesty to revoke it in favor 
of another. And though all his friends joined 
their entreaties, he could never be persuaded 
to accept it. As the emperor knew that St. 
Thomas was himself provincial, and had no 

155 








156 St Thomas of Villanova. 

superior in Spain who could command him 
under pain of censure to accept the dignity, 
and as the affairs of Granada were in a state 
to brook no delay, so that he could not wait 
for the orders of the general, who was at 
Rome, he pressed him no further, and ap¬ 
pointed another to fill that high station. 

The Saints are so humbled by the know¬ 
ledge they have of themselves, and the clear 
view they possess of their own weakness and 
misery, that they consider themselves un¬ 
worthy of the employments and honors 
offered them. Moses is chosen and called 
by God himself to be the chief of His people. 
He knows that He who speaks is all power¬ 
ful, and can provide the means necessary for 
the accomplishment of His will. He sees 
him work miracles to encourage him to 
undertake the journey to Egypt for the deli¬ 
very of his nation ; and yet he cannot resolve 
to go. He entreats God to dispense with 
his services, and to send another more capa¬ 
ble than himself. St. Thomas, like the pro¬ 
phet, was afraid to undertake so weighty a 
charge, which his humility represented as too 
much for his weakness to sustain ; and when 
the emperor yielded, his joy was extreme at 
his escape, and he continued to discharge 
his duties as prior till the year 1544, when 


Thomas of Villaiiova, 157 

the emperor named him for the archbishopric 
of Valentia, which his uncle, Don George of 
Austria, quitted for Liege, to which diocese 
he was called by an express brief of Paul the 
Third. 

It is true that the emperor, who was then 
in Flanders, did not at first nominate our 
Saint; at least he had no intention at the 
beginning of naming him, but a religious of 
St. Jerome, because he knew his distaste for 
the episcopate by his refusal of that of Gra¬ 
nada. But our Lord overruled the designs 
of the emperor in the following manner, to 
show that the election was the work of God, 
not of man. When he was about to sign the 
commission for the appointment of the bishop, 
he sharply reproved the secretary for not 
having followed his orders, and for having 
written the name of Father Thomas of 
Vlllanova, instead of the religious he had 
mentioned. The secretary assured him that 
he heard the name of Father Thomas, and 
no other, and that he had expressly com¬ 
manded him to write the commission In his 
favor, but that If his majesty pleased, the fault 
could soon be repaired by writing another. 
The emperor pondered on what his secretary 
had done, and burst forth In praises to God, 
who by his secretary had made known to 
10 


15S S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

him His holy will. He immediately signed 
the commission, which he sent by a courier 
express to Valladolid, where Philip the 
Second, his son and successor, who then 
governed Spain, held his court. The joy was 
excessive throughout the city when the pro¬ 
motion of the holy religious to the episcopate 
was made known. Every one considered 
this dignity as a recompense to which by his 
merits he was justly entitled. But the prince 
especially, who loved and respected him as 
a great servant of God, was much gratified, 
and immediately sent a messenger to the 
monastery with his father’s letter. As they 
were saying Compline when he arrived, the 
Saint, who was assisting, desired he should 
wait till the office was finished; then going 
to him in the cloister he received the com¬ 
mission from his hand, and in a grave and 
serious manner humbly thanked his majesty 
for the honor done him, at the same time 
saying he would not fail to wait on the prince 
the next day, to offer him his thanks in 
person, and to inform him of what he should 
resolve to do in this conjuncture. An author 
who has written his Life, says, that having 
assembled his religious, he reprimanded the 
brother porter, and gave him a severe pen¬ 
ance for the irreverence he had committed 




S^. Thomas of Villanova. 


159 


in entering the choir when he came to tell 
him one waited to see him, and that by his 
elevated voice, and the joy which appeared 
in his countenance, he had made known to 
the brethren the object of the messenger. 

The next day he went to the palace, and 
having expressed his gratitude to his imperial 
Majesty, and to his highness, for the honor 
conferred on him, he added, that being fully 
aware of his own insufficiency, he most 
humbly entreated the prince not to command 
him to accept a charge that he was unfitted 
for, and said that he had made a resolution 
never to become a bishop, having enough to 
do as a simple religious, in laboring for the 
salvation of his soul, without taking the 
responsibility of a multitude of others. The 
prince replied, that he should think well of 
what he was doing, and consider the profit 
the diocese of Valentia would receive from 
his piety and instruction. Still resolved not 
to accept it, he returned to the prince two or 
three times, reiterating his entreaties not to 
be exposed to so manifest a danger, and say¬ 
ing that after having recommended the affair 
to God, he was still in the same resolution, 
never to accept a bishopric. At last, throw¬ 
ing himself at his feet, he returned the com¬ 
mission to the prince, humbly entreating his 


i6o Thomas of Villanova. 

pardon for so using him, since he could do 
no otherwise. When he returned to the 
monastery, he found there Don Peter of 
Pelasco, constable of Castile, Don Francis de 
Los Colos, commander of Leon, and several 
other lords who were much attached to him, 
and who had come to persuade him to take 
the care of the diocese of Valentia. They 
placed before him in strong terms the oppor¬ 
tunities it would afford him of advancing the 
glory of God and the salvation of souls ; and 
urged the pleasure it would give the prince 
and his imperial Majesty, and the displeasure 
they would feel if he persisted in his refusal. 
Don Juan de Tavera, Cardinal Archbishop of 
Toledo, also went to him, and taking him 
aside into his cell, told him that a religious 
ought not to be so firm or so attached to his 
own opinions, but that, giving up his own 
feelings to those of his friends, he ought to 
believe, knowing their affection for him, and 
their judgment and experience, that they 
were the best judges of what was good for 
him. To resist the will of his prince on this 
occasion was to resist the will of God, because 
he well knew that he was not elected by the 
voice of man, but by a special and visible 
order of Divine Providence. 

Notwithstanding all that could be said, he 


S^. Thomas of Villanova. i5i 

still remained firm in his resolution. At 
length, throwing himself at the feet of the 
cardinal, the tears streaming from his eyes, 
he besought him to urge him no further, but, 
on the contrary, if he loved him, to do him 
the favor to inform the emperor that he 
declined the archbishopric of Valentia, and to 
give him his reasons for so doing, that his 
Majesty might not be offended at his conduct. 
The cardinal, seeing him inflexible, and 
despairing of making him yield, left him and 
returned to the prince to inform him of what 
had passed. He assured him that there was 
but one way for his highness to obtain his 
wish, which was to write to the provincial, 
and get him to use his authority in command¬ 
ing the Saint to accept the charge under 
pain of censure. 

The letter of the prince was followed by 
several others on the same subject to Father 
Francis of Nieve, at that time provincial ; 
who, moved by zeal for the glory of God, and 
the salvation of souls, and considering the 
quality and the reasons of the persons who 
wrote to him, and being also well acquainted 
with the extraordinary merits of F. Thomas, 
whose religious and disciple he had been, he 
wrote to him the following letter: 


162 SL Thomas of Villaiiova, 

“Rev. Father: 

“I have received a letter from his High¬ 
ness, in which he informs me that his Majesty 
has appointed your Reverence to the arch¬ 
bishopric of Valentia, and that you have re¬ 
fused the same. I hereby command you, 
within twenty-four hours after the receipt of 
this letter, to accept the archbishopric of 
Valentia. And to give you merit in so doing, 
I command it in virtue of holy obedience, 
and under pain of excommunication, Trina 
canonica 7 nonitione prcomissa. I issue this 
command, because I know well that God will 
be served and honored by you, and his impe¬ 
rial Majesty satisfied. 

“ I pray our Lord ever to have you in His 
holy keeping, for the well being of His 
church. 

“At Toledo. This 2d of August, 1544. 

“From the Very Rev. Father Francis of 
Nieve, Provincial.’' 

He humbly bowed his neck to the yoke of 
obedience, and had nothing to reply to this 
fresh command; considering the voice of his 
superior in that letter as the voice of God 
himself. 

Soon after this, he wrote to the Very Rev. 
Father General, as well to inform him of his 


S^. Thomas of Villanova, 163 

promotion, as to show him that the charge 
which he had undertaken would not allow of 
his executing the commission which the gene¬ 
ral chapter held at Rome the preceding year 
had given him, to correct the Constitutions 
of the Order, together with two fathers of 
Italy, and one of France, called Father Peter 
Guerente. I will here give his letter, to 
show the reader through what door this Saint 
entered into the dignity of the prelacy. 

“To the Very Rev. Father Jerome Seri- 
pandus, Prior-General of the Order of St. 
Augustine, my Father. 

“Very Rev. Father, grace and peace to 
you in the Lord, &c. 

“I have not written sooner to your Very 
Rev. Paternity, because we have no safe road 
to you since the passages of Rome are occu¬ 
pied. But this is an occasion which obliges 
me to send a courier express, to inform you 
thar the emperor has named me to the arch¬ 
bishopric of Valentia, without the solicitation 
of any one; indeed I had not the least idea 
of it myself. This induces many to believe 
that my election was the work of God, not 
that of man. Although I consider it more 
useful and advantageous to myself to con¬ 
tinue in the monastery where I had made my 


164 • 5 '/. Thomas of Villanova, 

profession, and peacefully to enjoy the sweets 
I found there ; nevertheless the father pro¬ 
vincial commanded, under the pain of censure, 
that on the receipt of his letter I should con¬ 
sent to my election, comformably to the inten¬ 
tion of his Majesty ; so that I could do no 
otherwise than receive it, being forced by the 
absolute command of my superior. I write 
these things to you. Very Rev. Father, know¬ 
ing you love me and consider me as your 
son, and I beseech you to give me your bene¬ 
diction, and to approve and ratify what has 
been done in this matter, since I have had no 
other desire than not to resist authority, or 
the designs that our Lord has for me, hoping 
that of His great goodness He will give me 
strength and power necessary to the dis¬ 
charge of so important an office, when my 
only object is to labor for His glory and His 
service. I must, moreover, inform you, that 
as soon as his Holiness shall have sent me 
his confirmation, it will be impossible for me 
to accomplish what your Very Rev. Paternity, 
conjointly with our general chapter, has 
ordered concerning the reformation of our 
Constitutions. Nevertheless, whenever any 
occasion presents itself wherein I can be of 
any service to you. Rev. Father, or the inte¬ 
rest of the order, I shall always be ready to 


Si, Thomas of Villanova, 165 

embrace it with joy, as a very obedient 
son. 

“I pray our Lord to preserve and comfort 
you, Rev. Father, for His glory and the good 
of our holy religion. 

“Valladolid, August 12th, 1544, 

“ From, Rev. Father, your very obedient son, 
“ Brother Thomas of Villanova.” 

This would seem to be the place to men¬ 
tion several excellent letters sent him by 
persons of distinction, to congratulate him, 
and to show their joy at seeing him by his 
merits raised to the episcopate. And princi¬ 
pally that of Pope Paul III. deserves notice, 
who seems, in the Bull of his elevation, so 
much struck with what he had heard of his 
piety and doctrine, as to be ready to cano¬ 
nize him while living. So also, Philip II. 
writes of him to the Duke of Calabria, Vice¬ 
roy of Valentia, in the highest terms of 
praise, not to mention several others that I 
will pass over to avoid prolixity. 

In the same proportion as his election was 
a matter of joy and congratulation to others, 
so was it to himself the cause of the greatest 
pain and sadness, when he considered with 
what a heavy cross he was loaded, in taking 
so many souls under his care, and so render- 


166 6*/. Thomas of Villanova. 

ing himself responsible for the Blood that the 
Son of God had shed for their salvation. 
This induced him, after he had received the 
Bull, to decline any more visits of congratula¬ 
tion, being unable to restrain the tears which 
flowed from his eyes whenever he thought 
of the loss of the repose and security of the 
cloister, and the dangers he was about to 
encounter in an office so painful and perilous 
as that of a bishop. 

He has left us a view of the state of his 
mind and feelings in a letter which he wrote 
to the same sovereign pontiff, Paul III., with 
which I will conclude the first part of this 
history. 

“ Beatiss. Pater. 

Very holy Father, 

“ It is not without fear and dismay 
that I have received the letters by which 
your Holiness constitutes me Archbishop of 
Valentia. For where is the man who, re¬ 
garding with the eye of faith the weight of 
this high ministry, would not tremble and be 
cast down at the sight of so holy and respon¬ 
sible a dignity! May the very good and 
merciful Jesus Christ our Lord, help me to 
serve His Church, for which he descended 
from heaven, to found and cement it with the 
blood that He and His saints have shed! 


St Thomas of Villanova, 167 

As it is not in my power worthily to express 
the gratitude which I feel for the kindness 
with which it has pleased your Holiness to 
honor me, I will at least show it in part by 
my conduct, acquitting myself faithfully of 
the office imposed on me. For I believe 
your Holiness is never so well pleased as 
when you see those whom you have called 
to share in your solicitudes, zealous in assist¬ 
ing you to govern that flock that God has 
committed to your care, to rule, govern, and 
increase it. This is assuredly my intention 
and resolution. May God grant that I may 
be able to execute it as I desire. As to the 
rest, I have nothing which is not yours, and 
which you have not acquired by the benig¬ 
nity your Holiness has shown me. I assure 
you there is no one in the world more ready 
than myself to render you submission and 
obedience in whatever it shall please you to 
command me. I have taken the oath of 
fidelity before consecration, according to cus¬ 
tom, and I have sent it you, as you com¬ 
manded in your letter. 

“ May God keep and preserve your Holi¬ 
ness many years for the good and peace of 
His Church. 

“From your Holiness’ 

“ Humble and devoted creature, 

“ Father Thomas of Villanova.” 


PART II. 


CHAPTER L 


OF THE CONDUCT OF ST. THOMAS WHEN HE BECAME ARCHBISHOP, 
AND OF THE FIRST PROOFS WHICH HE GAVE OF CHARITY AND 
PRUDENCE IN HIS GOVERNMENT. 


S soon as the holy archbishop received 
his Bulls, he endeavored to hasten the 



ceremony of his consecration as much 


as possible, feeling that he had now no 
right to employ his time in any way but in 
discharging the obligations he had contracted 
towards the flock committed to his care. 
The cardinal archbishop of Toledo, with two 
other prelates, imposed hands on him in the 
church of the Augustinians at Valladolid; 
after which he prepared to leave the town 
immediately, to avoid the honors which he 
apprehended would be offered him on his 
departure. He spoke on the subject to no 
one until the morning of his departure, when, 
having assembled his religious, he took leave 
of them, after having embraced them all, and 
having recommended himself to their prayers. 
He permitted no one to accompany him but 


168 



SL Thomas of Villanova, 169 

Father Francis Ringon and a servant who 
followed him, all three leaving on foot quietly 
and without any ceremony. His mother, 
who passionately desired to see him, had 
entreated him by letter to pass through Villa* 
nova, which is almost the direct road from 
Valladolid to Valentia. Yet when he arrived 
at the place where it was necessary to deter¬ 
mine whether he would go or not, he stopped, 
and as if in doubt what he ought to do, con¬ 
sulted his companion, who showed him that 
he ought not to refuse this duty to his 
mother, nor deprive her of the happiness of 
his company. “ Let us pray to God,” said 
the Saint, and falling on his knees, as he was 
accustomed to do before undertaking any¬ 
thing, he said after a while to his companion, 
“ Come, let us go straight to Valentia ; some 
other opportunity will offer for me to see my 
mother. Relinquet homo patrem suum et 
viatrem suam et adhcerebit uxori suceT Then 
he arose and went on his way to Valentia, 
where he arrived in this poor manner. 

The respect he felt for his order induced 
him to retire to our Lady of Succor, which 
is a monastery of the Augustinians, without 
the walls of Valentia, instead of entering the 
city and going at once to the archbishop’s 
palace, where he was expected. 


170 Sf. Thomas of Villanova. 

The superior received him at the gate, 
threw himself at his feet, and paid him all the 
honor he thought due to a great prelate and 
to one of the most holy and learned men of 
his order. The Te Deum was solemnly 
chanted at his entry, but he would suffer no 
other ceremonies, nor the least extraordinary 
thing to be done on his account. He re¬ 
mained on his knees for some time before 
the Blessed Sacrament, and then went into 
the chapel of our Lady of Succor, to whom 
he had always had a very particular devotion. 
What very much increased the joy that all 
felt at their holy pastor’s arrival, and con¬ 
firmed the general opinion that had been 
formed of his holiness, was a signal favor 
that God conferred on his diocese, even 
throughout the kingdom of Valentia. No 
rain had fallen for a long time; the earth 
had become so dry and arid that the poor 
laborers could not cultivate it. The province 
seemed on the eve of a horrible famine, 
when, upon the prayers of the Saint, the 
heavens suddenly opened, and poured down 
an abundant rain, which lasted several days, 
abundantly watered the fields, enabling the 
laborers to cultivate the earth, and rejoicing 
the whole country, which was in dread of the 
famine. Every one felt it was to the Saint 


St. Tho^nas of Villa^iava, 171 

they were indebted for the visible grace they 
had received ; and all looked upon it as an 
earnest of the invisible and spiritual grace 
that God designed for them by means of his 
charity and doctrine. 

He passed the festivals of Christmas with 
much recollection and devotion in the com¬ 
pany of his brethren, said mass every day, 
and assisted at the Divine Office and at the 
Refectory, as if he had been a simple reli¬ 
gious. The superior had much trouble in 
making him yield so far as to take the first 
seat, and give his benediction at the end. 

He resolved to make his entry the first 
day of the year 1545, not having been able 
to do it sooner on account of the heavy rains. 
The magistrates, accompanied by all the 
nobility of Valentia, conducted him from the 
monastery to the town-house, where the Saint 
adored the wood of the true Cross that had 
been brought there for the purpose. Follow¬ 
ing the clergy entoning the Te Deuni, he was 
led in procession to the cathedral in the midst 
of a concourse of people, and then began his 
functions by the episcopal benediction that 
he gave with the usual indulgences on such 
occasions. After which he returned to his 
palace, accompanied by his canons and per¬ 
sons of all ranks, who loudly praised God for 


ij2 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

having given them a Saint to govern and 
lead them. Whilst he, on his part, to be 
enabled to perform his duty and satisfy their 
expectations, implored from on high the 
assistance which he should require in his 
responsible situation. 

The next morning he celebrated mass with 
this intention, shedding many tears. The 
first proof that he gave of the mildness and 
benignity of his government, was seen in his 
leaving the altar to go immediately to visit 
the official prisons, to see the priests who 
were there, and in what manner they were 
treated. He was horrified with certain dark 
and damp cells that he perceived, and having 
found on inquiry that ecclesiastics were some¬ 
times there, and that they were made for 
that very purpose, “ If God pleases,” said he, 
“not a single one shall ever enter there by 
my orders. These places seem to me more 
fitted for robbers and assassins than for the 
Lord’s anointed. We will find, God helping 
us, other means to punish and gain our bre¬ 
thren.” He caused them to be filled with 
earth, and the doors fastened up, to render 
them entirely useless. 

Soon after this, Don Gregory Garros, 
Michael Vigue, and Don Honorio Pelizen 
canons of the cathedral, came and offered 


TJiovtas of Villanova, 173 

him four thousand crowns oir the part of 
their body, to testify their joy at his presence, 
and to give him the means of furnishing his 
house, as they knew it was empty, even of 
the most necessary things. He received 
the present, and thanked them for it most 
affectionately, but instead of using it, he sent 
it to the administrators of the great hospital, 
that it might be used for the poor, to repair 
the damages the fire had a short time before 
done to the building. To prevent the canons 
from taking offence at the use he had made 
of their money, he said to them, Gentlemen, 
I entreat you to believe I make much account 
of your present, and that I shall never lose 
remembrance of it. Your intention was to 
give me the means, by your liberality, of fur¬ 
nishing my house; it came into my mind^ 
and I believe it firmly, that our Lord will be 
better served and glorified by your money 
being spent on the poor in the hospital, 
who so much need it, than if it had been 
employed for my use. For what does a 
poor religious like myself want with furni¬ 
ture? No, gentlemen; do not think that 
though it has pleased God to raise me to this 
station, I forget what is due to my first con¬ 
dition.” 

He used great discernment and prudence 


174 SL 7 homas of Villanova, 

in ascertaining the dispositions of those 
under his charge, and to what they were 
naturally Inclined, in order to accommodate 
himself to them, not in tolerating vice by a 
weak condescension, but In gaining their 
affections to lead them to good by the most 
safe and gentle ways; after the example of 
God Himself, who disposes all things in the 
world according to their nature. 

To impress those whom he wished to win 
to God, he selected the most virtuous of his 
people to compose his household. He acted 
on the same principle with regard to his 
clergy, choosing the most pious and learned 
to assist him in the administration of his 
charge, to show how much he valued virtue 
and merit. 

He found much to exercise his zeal and 
charity; the morals of the people In the king¬ 
dom of Valentia being dreadfully depraved, 
libertinism reigned there with impunity. In 
short, It was pitiable to see to see to what a 
state the affairs of his church were reduced, 
by the absence of those who preceded him. 
To cure this inveterate evil, he would not 
have recourse at first to harsh measures, but 
prudently waited a fitting time, when he 
might do so without injury to any one. He 
began the visitation of the churches In his 


St Thomas of Villanova, 175 

diocese by that of Valentia itself. There 
was neither town nor village where he did 
not preach. The zeal which he had always 
felt when preaching for the salvation of 
souls, was now increased by the consider¬ 
ation of what he owed to those under his 
care. In quality of father and pastor he 
spoke, as to his own children, for whom he 
was willing to shed his blood, if necessary for 
their good. According to Bishop Ceurian’s 
account, the words which flowed from his 
lips in the pulpit, after he was archbishop, 
seemed to be, not the words of man, but fire 
from heaven. 

It is impossible to say how many sins, both 
private and public, were forsaken and reme¬ 
died by these visits; how many persons he 
comforted who were bowed down by the 
weight of their sorrows, and how many he 
saved who were on the brink of despair at 
the sight of their sins, or the wretchedness 
of their worldly affairs. How many heart¬ 
burnings, law-suits and quarrels, did he not 
bring to a happy termination. In fine, how 
many souls did he not draw from the gates 
of hell into the way of salvation. He pub¬ 
lished a plenary indulgence for all that was 
passed, as well for ecclesiastics as seculars, 
with an entire remission of the punishment 


176 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

they had deserved, entreating them with tor¬ 
rents of tears to do better for the future, and 
to begin to serve God according to their 
station; otherwise he should be compelled 
to have recourse to justice and his authority 
to punish those who had abused his mercy. 

When returned from his visits he assem¬ 
bled a Synod at Valentia, where he wished 
all his priests to meet. It was held for three 
days, when he attended carefully to all their 
remonstrances and complaints, making in 
their presence all the rules necessary for the 
improvement of their churches and them¬ 
selves; ecclesiastical affairs being in a deplor¬ 
able state. As in this place his authority 
was great, he did not fail to exercise it on 
several of his priests who were inclined to 
rebel, some even going so far as to protest 
against his orders. The rest he won by 
gentleness and the power of reasoning, and 
the statutes made in the synod were pub¬ 
lished to the satisfaction of all parties. His 
ecclesiastics were edified by his prudence 
and holiness, and were resolved to maintain 
in their parishes what had been decided on 
in the synod. 


CHAPTER II. 


8T. THOMAS WHEN ARCHBISHOP PRESERVED THE SAME POVERTY 
AND MODESTY AS WHEN A SIMPLE RELIGIOUS; AND HIS NEW 
DIGNITY NEVER MADE HIM FORGET HIS FIRST CONDITION. 


I' N the generality of men It is so common 
J a thing to see the manners change with 


the condition, that the experience of the 
ancient Romans made this truth pass 
into a proverb, Alag is trains viriim probat; 
there being nothing more calculated to put 
the spirit of a man to the proof, than the 
raising him to responsible employments and 
dignities. Holy Scripture furnishes us with 
a striking example of this In the history of 
Saul. Before he was king he was called the 
friend of God, full of His Spirit, and with a 
heart pure and sincere as that of an infant. 
But he so perverted and changed that heart 
when elevated to the throne, that God drove 
him from It, In spite of all the tears and 
prayers of the prophet Samuel, which were 
not powerful enough to stay the hand of 
Divine Justice. It is then, a great proof and 
strong argument, that virtue has taken deep 
root in a man’s heart when he is seen to 


12 


177 





178 S/, 7 horn as of Villanova, 

practise it as perfectly amidst honors and 
dignities as in a low estate. 

After St. Thomas became archbishop he 
never lost a particle of that modesty, humility, 
and poverty, which he was accustomed to 
practise in the cloister. He was outwardly 
poor, as well as poor in spirit, and truly loved 
that evangelical poverty he had professed, 
like all who have known and practised it, and 
who have said things of it which, if not certain 
and well approved, might seem exaggerated. 
For several years he wore the same habit as 
at the monastery, and did not change it till it 
was no longer wearable. He did the same 
with his under garments, causing his shirts 
to be repieced, and when they were too old 
to be used, he commanded tw^o to be made 
into one. As long as his doublet could be 
worn by putting new sleeves to it, he would 
not give it up, but dressed himself in it, 
shabby as it was, to the very last. He 
mended his stockings himself, keeping for 
that purpose a needle and thread and other 
useful necessaries. 

Perhaps some may think that these things 
were unworthy of an archbishop, and beneath 
his dignity, and that at any rate his historian 
would have done well to omit them; yet in 
the sight of God they may have great merit. 


Si. Thomas of Villanova. 179 

And if we consider the spirit which prompted 
him to act in this manner, we shall see in 
them the effects and certain marks of his 
love of evangelical poverty, and also his wish 
to spare expense, that he might have more 
to bestow upon the poor of Jesus Christ. 

Ihe whole eleven years that he was arch¬ 
bishop he had but two 1 abits, one white"^' and 

* The Augustinians have worn the white habit as well as the 
black, for many centuries—the black, because that color was 
worn by their Founder, the white through devotion to the 
Blessed Virgin, and as being typical of innocence and purity of 
soul, as the black is of penitence and austerity. Both habits are 
of woollen stuff, called serge. The form of either differs but 
slightly. The black is a loose fitting tunic, witli large sleeves, 
girded at the waist by a black cincture of hide or skin, and a 
cowl (sometimes called capuche) or cape for the shoulders, with 
a hood attached for the head. This is the usual form of the 
black habit. On feast days, large and wide flowing sleeves, 
that reach down nearly to the ancle, are worn, fastened to the 
shoulder, and a wide mantle that falls in easy folds from the 
shoulders to the ground. The white habit is of the same style as 
the black, but with this difference, that besides the tunic and 
cowl, is worn the scapular, i. e., a long piece of white serge (the 
width of the shoulders) that falls down in front and behind, 
under the cowl. The dress of the religious is in each one of its 
parts typical of some one of the three vows he has taken—the 
cowl, of obedience, the tunic of poverty, the cincture of chastity, 
while the long flowing sleeves are indicative of the virtue of 
charity, and the scapular in token of bondage to his Queen, the 
Mother of God. In Ireland in the olden times, the white habit 
was worn by all ecclesiastics,monks, hermits or others. This \^as 
as much because there the wool of the sheep is generally white, 
(in Africa, black), as in contradistinction to the ordinary dress 
of the pagan priests, who wore a dress of a dark color, i. e., of an 
ash or fawn color, or black. Gocellinus says of St. Patrick that 


i8o 


SL Thomas of Villanova. 


one black, both of common stuff of low price. 
When about to purchase one, a friend per¬ 
suaded him to let it be of a thinner kind of 
stuff, so as to be light and more befitting an 
archbishop. He consented, thinking it would 
cost less, but on finding out his mistake, he 
begged his friend to take it back again. 

“ he went clothed in white, so as to witness to the rule he fol¬ 
lowed, to the candor of humility and the innocence of his life. 
Wherefore, in Ireland, religious following the example set by 
St Patrick, were content with a simple dress, which for many 
centuries was of the wool of the sheep and without dye.” {In 
Vita S. Patricii, c. 8.) Elsius, who gives the same version as the 
above, adds this, that ” after paganism was driven from Ireland, 
all then began to wear the black habit, using the white only for 
indoors.” In the beginning of the XIVth century, a decree was 
impending from the Supreme Pontiff, which aimed at depriving 
the Hermits of St. Augustine of their white habit. This was at 
the instance of some Dominican Fathers, who wished it exclu¬ 
sively for their own wear. Our history says that accordingly a 
number of holy religious (Augustinians) living at Perugia, met in 
prayer before an image of the Blessed Virgin, and imploring 
her aid, made avow that if her dress was spared them, the whole 
Older would ever afterwards read an Office weekly in her honor. 
The grace sought was granted, the decree suspended, and the vow 
fulfilled from that time to this. Hence the Augustinians were 
sometimes styled‘‘fjrat'iam,’’t. e, “Religious of the Grace,” or 
“ Marianites," a fitting title, since Holy Father Augustine had 
BO sturdily defended the dogma of Divine Grace from the m.is- 
chievous construction put upon it by heretics. He too was the 
first to teach the ejaculatory (now so common in the Church) the 
Deo Oratias —(Psal. 132 , and lib. 111 ^ con^r. Cresconium, ca,p. 37.) 
In 1603 the Hermits of St. Augustine were for a third time about 
to lose their white dress, had not the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Cle¬ 
ment VIII, by decree of the 2d of October, put a final stop to all 
further disquiet and annoyance- 


SL Thomas of Villanova, i8i 

“ Sir,” said he, “ you have a right to wear 
this thin cloth, you are master of your own 
property ; but I, who am but a poor religious, 
and who have nothing that does not belong 
to the poor, cannot use the stuff you have 
brought me without doing them an injury.” 
His friend, to satisfy him, took it for his own 
use, and bought for the holy prelate a com¬ 
mon and thick serge, which he wore till it 
was so shabby his servants were ashamed of 
it, and blushed to see him so poorly clothed. 
So much were they distressed, that they 
agreed to petition him in a body to leave 
it off. The Saint acquiesced, and caused 
another robe equally coarse to be made; 
nevertheless, he kept the old one to mend 
the other when necessary; and was generally 
so poorly and meanly dressed, that the most 
humble religious would have found it hard to 
imitate him without blushing. 

The public profession the Saint made of 
poverty displeased some of the children of 
the world; because they looked on it only 
with the eyes of the flesh. In his cathedral 
even, there were some canons to whom it 
was unpleasant, and who entreated him for 
the honor of the Church he governed, to be 
better clothed, urging that his dress was not 
conformable to his dignity. He answered 


182 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

them, smiling, and in a manner both playful 
and serious, “Gendemen, I am much obliged 
to you for the care you take of my person, 
but really I do not see how my dress as a 
religious interferes with my dignity as arch¬ 
bishop. You well know that my authority 
and the duties of my charge are quite inde¬ 
pendent of my dress, and consist rather in 
taking care of the souls committed to me. 
But If, notwithstanding, you wish me to wear 
any other habit, I will cheerfully do so, pro¬ 
vided you prove to me that I do nothing by 
that contrary to the profession I have made.” 
An answer so just and holy received no 
reply on their part, except that they besought 
him at least to wear a cap of a finer material 
than the one he then had. He yielded to 
their request, and to satisfy them, used a cap 
of thinner stuff 

He was no less economical in the expenses 
of his table than in his dress. He was as 
frugal as when a religious. He never per¬ 
mitted anything but the most common food 
to be served, except when he ate in company, 
when another dish was added. Still he 
himself never exceeded the little he was 
accustomed to take amongst his brethren. 
At the end of each month he examined his 
accounts, and if his expenses of one week 


Thomas of Villanova, 183 

exceeded another, he was disturbed, and 
warned his steward to take care, for that the 
wealth of the archbishop did not belong to 
the archbishop, but to the poor; and that 
before God he was obliged to restore to 
them whatever was expended in superflui¬ 
ties, and that he should carefully watch that 
our Lord was not displeased in this respect. 
He had no tapestry, and whatever they could 
do or say, he would never allow his room to 
be better carpeted than others. His steward 
having once bought a small carpet, and also, 
thinking it a great bargain, a piece of satin, on 
which was woven the descent from the cross, 
the Saint reproved him with some severity 
for the expense he had incurred, but at the 
same time said, “This piece of satin we will 
keep in consideration of what it represents, 
especially as it will be of use in the church for 
the preacher’s chair. As for this little carpet, 
put it in the chapel where I say mass, but 
take care another time to buy nothing for 
the ornament of my house, but remember 
that I am a religious who has made a vow 
of poverty.” His couch was a field-bed, with 
a mattress and two coverings; curtains, but 
no sheets, which he never used except when 
ill, so great was his love of penance and holy 
poverty. He had no plate except a salt- 


184 • 5 ’/. Thomas of Villanova, 

cellar and a dozen spoons, which were placed 
on the table when he had company. His 
steward once told him that what he had 
expended in buying earthenware plates and 
dishes, which were constantly being broken, 
would have sufficed to buy a service of silver. 
“ Do you think I am not aware of this ?” said 
he; “I have seen and well considered it, but 
as I am a religious, I must remain within 
the bounds of my first condition ; what would 
do honor to another, would be for me a 
shame and disgrace.’' 

We see, then, that honors and dignities 
produced no change whatever in our Saint. 
He was as humble and poor under the mitre 
as he had been in the cloister. He would 
have no other arms than those of St. Augus¬ 
tine, a heart wounded and pierced, engraved 
upon the seal of office. When asked what 
he would have, he replied, “Those of my 
order, because there is neither nobility nor 
dignity that I value before the honor that 
God has done me in calling me by His 
mercy into holy religion.” 


CHAPTER III. 


OF THE TIME EMPLOYED BY ST. THOMAS IN PRAYER, AND THE 
FAVORS HE RECEIVED IN THAT HOLY EXERCISE. 

I HE holy archbishop knew well by the 
light of his own mind, as well as that 
imparted to him by God, the great 
labors and dangers which offices, having 
the care of souls, draw after them. And 
though he also knew he had done his utmost 
to prevent his election, yet the burden was 
so intolerable to him, that he never after¬ 
wards experienced lightness or joy of heart. 
He could never hear himself called arch¬ 
bishop without a feeling of deep and bitter 
regret that he could not resign his charge, 
and pass the rest of his days in his cell. In 
truth, seven years after his promotion, when 
the emperor passed from Flanders into Spain, 
and was expected at Barcelona, he wrote to 
him, by Dr. de la Porte, entreating him to 
name another to the church of Valentia, 
which he was resolved to quit, from the pain 
and grief of heart he suffered under so heavy 
a weight, but would not do so until his 
majesty’s arrival, nor without his consent. 

185 





t86 


S^, Thomas of Villanova. 


The emperor answered, he intended shortly 
to visit Valentia, and they could then consult 
together as to what would be most expedient 
for the service of God and his own consola¬ 
tion ; thus eluding his request and leaving 
the affair undecided. The holy prelate said 
afterwards, that there were two causes of 
his uneasiness, which made him especially 
anxious to find the means of giving up his 
archbishopric. The first, was the account 
he should have to render to God of those 
Moors who lived in his diocese. Havina* 

o 

received in baptism the name and character 
of Jesus Christ, he was their pastor, and as 
such, charged with the care of their souls ; 
and yet he had no power to soften their hard 
hearts, but had the sorrow of seeing them 
apostatize every day from the faith, through 
the most deplorable blindness. This was 
the reason also that he had so steadily re¬ 
fused the archbishopric of Granada, offered 
him by the emperor when he held his court 
at Toledo, and that he would in like manner 
have refused that of Valentia if he had not 
been compelled by holy obedience to accept 
it. The second, was the bad conduct and 
too great liberty of the ecclesiastics of his 
time. This he considered an enormous evil, 
deploring it with tears of blood; while at the 


S^. Thomas of Villanova, 187 

same time he saw, with the deepest feeling 
of sorrow, that it was not in his power to 
remedy it to the extent he would wish. He 
knew that amongst them were rich and pow¬ 
erful men, who would resist his orders; and 
to undertake their reformation he foresaw 
would be of little avail, and perhaps endanger 
the peace and quiet of the province. He 
mourned deeply that he could not further 
the general reform of his diocese, by begin¬ 
ning at the house of God; since those who 
ought to have been the first to unite with 
him in the good work, were the first to put 
obstacles in his way. 

The only comfort the holy pastor found in 
this distress of mind, was in prayer. Prayer 
that enabled him to support so heavy a cross 
as the care of his flock, and to exert himself 
to the utmost to lead them to God by the 
safest and surest ways. His oratory was 
the tabernacle, to which, like Moses, he 
ran to learn of God what he should do, and 
how he should act in the difficulties which 
he every day encountered. Ou4* Saint was 
possessed of a great understanding, an ex¬ 
quisite judgment, and much experience, yet 
he seemed to make no account of these ad¬ 
vantages. He placed such entire confidence 
in God and in prayer, that before resolving 


188 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

on any affair, however trifling, he always con¬ 
sulted Him in this holy exercise. When 
spoken to on any business, he would say, “I 
will consider of it, I will say mass to-morrow, 
and will recommend this affair to our good 
Lord, that it may please Him in His great 
mercy to conduct it well.” He spent the 
greatest part of his time in prayer. His 
servants had but to go to his oratory, to be 
sure to find him. Sometimes they saw him 
in an ecstasy, or shedding torrents of tears; 
at other times extended upon the ground in 
the form of a cross. Whenever they found 
him thus, they retreated as though they had 
not seen him, lest his humility should have 
caused him to be distressed. Yet his love 
of prayer never made him neglect his duties. 
He left his oratory and his prayer the 
moment he was called; then having con¬ 
cluded the business, returned without loss 
of time. He had given strict orders to his 
servants to fetch him immediately he was 
wanted, “ Because,” said he, “ besides the 
weariness the people feel in waiting, we shall 
have to give an account of all the time we 
have caused our neighbor to lose, as well 
as that we waste ourselves. Never mind 
whether I am praying or studying; for al¬ 
though it may be unpleasant to be interrupted, 


Tho 7 nas of Villanova. 189 

still I am not my own; as a bishop, I belong 
to my flock.” As our Saint placed all his 
cares and all his occupations in the hands of 
God, and undertook nothing but under His 
auspices, our Lord blessed him in every thing 
he did. 

He never turned away a servant that he 
had once admitted to his household, nor 
changed his officers, except to advance their 
interests, and give them better employment. 
And the reason he was so well served was, 
that he chose his servants at the foot of the 
altar, by the gift of discerning spirits that he 
had received from God, so that his choice 
could not be followed by repentance. The 
very first time he saw Dr. de la Porte, he 
looked at him attentively, and then immedi¬ 
ately appointed him one of his visitors. And 
when the doctor, being a very humble man, 
objected that he was not worthy of this em¬ 
ployment, and entreated to be excused, the 
holy prelate replied, “You say and do just 
what you ought, but for all that it is my wish 
that you do as I tell you, because I hope that 
God will be glorified by your services; and 
I do not think I am mistaken in this idea.” 
In the same manner he chose Dr. Ceurien as 
his suffragan, in spite of all the excuses he 
offered; amongst others, that he was not 


190 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

fitted for such an office, and did not believe 
he had the necessary acquirements to dis¬ 
charge it well. “ Do not say that,” replied 
the Saint; “when I entered the episcopate 
I was not more fitted for it than you, but 
God who called me, without any wish on my 
part, as you well know, has led and assisted 
me by His grace and mercy. Obey then my 
commands; for if His Divine goodness has 
called you, and chosen you to serve Him in 
this ministry. He will abundantly provide 
you with all the help you can need.” 

He had also received the gift of counsel, 
to resolve the difficulties of those who came 
to him for advice. Poor curates and others 
often came to consult him, or to complain of 
ill treatment. Now, though it often happened 
that they spoke in anger, he listened to them 
with the greatest patience; always having 
his heart raised to God, praying interiorly 
for him who spoke to him, that he might be 
enlightened, and prevented from offending 
his God by the unruly passions which agitated 
him. Then under the pretence of some busi¬ 
ness, he would go into his oratory to beg the 
assistance of our Lord, and after praying 
with many tears he would return, and give 
answers so just and conformable to the neces¬ 
sities of each, that he even astonished himself. 


Thomas of Villanova. 191 

In his time, the greater part of the bishops 
of Castile passed through Valentia to go to 
the Council of Trent, and lodged with him 
on the way. He entered deeply into the 
necessities of the Church, and told them, that 
though the principal object of the Council 
was to extirpate the new-born heresy in Ger¬ 
many, it was no less necessary to aim at a 
reformation of life and morals, so corrupt in 
all sorts of persons. He expressed great 
sorrow that he was not able to accompany 
them, on account of the many maladies with 
which he was afflicted. But the Saint, though 
he could not assist in body, endeavored to 
be present in spirit, by the advice and coun¬ 
sels he gave, as to what ought to be done. 
He gave his proxy to the bishop of Nuesca, 
and gave to all some writings, exhorting 
them all to have confidence in our Lord of 
the good success of this holy Council, which 
He had promised. 

One of these prelates, returning some 
years after into Spain, said that the advice 
given by the archbishop concerning the 
Council, had been very well received by all 
the fathers; and that they had followed his 
opinion in every instance, with two excep¬ 
tions. The first was, that the Fathers of the 
Council should make a rule, that henceforth 


ig 2 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

no bishop should be allowed to exchange his 
bishopric for another, in order that, hoping 
for nothing better than what he possessed, 
he might be more devoted to the care of the 
church to which God had called him. The 
second was, that all cures and benefices hav¬ 
ing the care of souls might be provided with 
priests natives of the place, providing they 
were well qualified, that fathers and mothers 
might be more careful to bring up their chil¬ 
dren to virtue and knowledge, in the hope of 
one day seeing them rectors and vicars in 
their own parishes. For though it might not 
be always possible^ it would be especially 
advantageous in country churches; they 
would be better served, having a greater 
number of pious and learned priests. 

This admirable gift of counsel was never 
more appreciated, than when death deprived 
the province of the services of St. Thomas. 
Every one exclaimed that his decease was 
still more to be lamented, on account of the 
loss of his advice and counsel, than the tem¬ 
poral alms which he gave to the poor, great 
and extensive though they were. 


CHAPTER IV. 


OP THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, AND THE POWER HE HAD RECEIVED 
FROM GOD OVER DEMONS. 

Q LTHOUGH the gift of prophecy and the 
Ul power of driving devils from the bodies 
of men are not certain proofs of the 
holiness of him in whom they reside, 
since, according to Scripture, there have been 
sinners and enemies of God who possessed 
them, yet it is certain, that where these gifts 
are joined to virtue and the observance of 
the divine commands, and it is seen plainly 
that the person in whom God has placed 
them seeks nothing else than His glory and 
the good of his fellow-men, it is certain that 
they increase wonderfully the holiness of 
those who make a right use of them. Such 
was the case with our Saint. Our Lord gave 
him power over devils, and often revealed to 
him future things which it was impossible he 
should know in a natural way. Of several 
instances I will relate some of the most re¬ 
markable. 

The holy prelate, as I have before said, 
mourned in the depths of his heart over the 

J 3 193 


194 ‘ 5 '/. Thomas of Villanova, 

torrent of crimes and abominations with which 
the world was deluged; and wept before God 
continually, beseeching Him by His holy grace 
to remedy all these disorders. Now as it is 
most natural that the lips should utter the 
fervent desires of the heart, he often spoke 
on this subject to his friends. One day, hav¬ 
ing celebrated mass with many tears and 
much devotion for the necessities of the 
Church, he said, on leaving the altar, to Dr. 
de la Porte, “Now let us praise God^ and 
doubt no longer that He will soon provide 
for the wants of His Church, for I assure you 
that by His mercy He has revealed it to one 
of His servants.” The next day a courier 
arrived at Valentia with letters from Pope 
Paul III. for the convocation of the council 
which the Saint earnestly desired as the best 
means of improving the condition of the holy 
Church. 

Again: in the year 1552, the priests of the 
parish of St. Catherine of Valentia wished to 
get possession of the great chapel for their 
place of burial. The parishioners objected, 
saying, they had no right to it, and that it 
would be an injury to the public, as it was 
built by the alms of the parish. The differ¬ 
ence was laid before the archbishop, who, 
after weighing the arguments on both sides, 


SL Thomas of Villanova. 195 

took the part of justice, and forbid the priests 
to take possession of the chapel. “ Choose 
some other place in the church,” said he 
“for your place of burial, and leave this 
chapel; you will one day want it. Your 
church will be burnt, and you will then be 
glad that persons of fortune have had the 
chapel for their burying-place, since, in grati¬ 
tude for this privilege, they will contribute 
more than you could possibly do for the 
rebuilding of your church.” Thirty-two 
years after, in the year 1584, the prophecy 
of the Saint was fulfilled. The church was 
burnt to ashes, but the chapel received no 
injury. 

A gentleman at the point of death was 
once recommended to the prayers of St. 
Thomas. He said mass for him, and on 
leaving the altar, said to Dr. de la Porte, 
“ Be comforted, your friend will not die. Go 
and tell him that a physician named Aguilar 
will know his complaint, and that by his ad¬ 
vice and remedies he will recover his health.” 

One of his friends, a merchant, had com¬ 
municated to him his intention of marrying 
one of his daughters, and recommended the 
affair to his prayers; but without awaiting the 
Saint’s answer he married her, and returned 
soon afterwards with a joyful countenance, 


196 S^. Iho^nas of Villanova, 

expressing his satisfaction at the alliance. 
“You are pleased at this marriage/’ said the 
Saint, “and I am sorry for it. You begged 
me to recommend this affair to God. I have 
dope so; and if you had returned to me as 
you ought, I should have told you not to con¬ 
clude it. After your death this marriage will 
be the ruin of your house ; your daughter will 
be miserable, and will pass the rest of her 
days in sorrow.” It happened exactly as he 
had predicted. 

Another friend, who came to tell him with 
great joy that his wife had given birth to a 
son, was answered with these words: “ Pray 
for the mother and the child. He will die in 
a few years of a violent and disastrous death, 
which will try you much.” This happened 
also. For when the child advanced in years, 
he gave himself up to a dissolute life, and was 
killed in an encounter with an evil compan¬ 
ion, his father being entirely ruined by a law¬ 
suit to revenge his death. 

The power he had received from our Lord 
over devils was not less remarkable than his 
gift of prophecy ; for the Divine Goodness is 
accustomed to confer these graces and favors 
on the humble of heart, as if He would recom¬ 
pense their humility by lowering the pride 
of the devils in subjecting them to the will 


- 6'/. Thomas of Villanova. 197 

of the saints and the truly humble. There 
was once so terrible a tempest in the city 
of Burgos, where the Saint was superior, that 
the winds, accompanied by thunder and whirl¬ 
winds, overthrew some houses, and injured a 
great many others. St. Thomas immediately 
went to pray before his crucifix, and while 
praying, our Lord revealed to him the cause 
of this agitation in the air. He climbed the 
steeple, and throwing his eyes around, he per¬ 
ceived a number of devils, under the form of 
different animals, who caused these whirl¬ 
winds and storms. Having commanded 
them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
to depart, they obeyed, and left the air serene 
and tranquil. Another time, also at Burgos, 
they brought a demoniac into the church of 
the convent. The Saint did not at first re¬ 
lease him; but the demon dared not, in his 
presence, torment the poor man, nor make 
his ordinary grimaces. 

One morning, having sent all his religious 
to pray in the chapel of the Holy Crucifix, he 
led in the possessed, who seemed to dart fire 
and flames from his eyes and mouth, so great 
was his fury. He was instantly delivered, 
the devil going out of this poor body with 
horrible bowlings, with no further injury to 
it than leaving it extremely weak. The Saint 


198 


SL Thomas of Villanovar 


gave thanks to God for his deliverance, and 
then turning to his religious, said, “Fathers 
and brethren, I have convoked you here for 
two reasons. Because, in the first place, I 
know the power of united prayer; and in the 
second, I considered that if our Lord has 
done this wonder, and shown His mercy on 
account of the merits of some one amongst 
us, he, whoever he may be, will be saved from 
the danger of vainglory and presumption, to 
which he might otherwise be exposed.” 

In the general visitation that St. Thomas 
made of his diocese the first year of his archi- 
episcopate, they brought to him at Alcoy, a 
girl possessed by so outrageous a devil, that 
neither exorcisms nor the other means that 
the church usually employs on such occasions, 
had any effect. The holy prelate prayed to 
God for her; and after mass which he cele¬ 
brated one Saturday with that intention, he 
ordered the vicar of the parish the next day 
at Prone, to discover before the people all 
that he had seen and heard of this demon; 
and also what the Saint had said to him in 
private about him. “ And be sure,” said he, 
“ that he will soon abandon this poor creature, 
because, as he is an extremely proud and 
haughty spirit, and imagines we do not know 
his stratagems, he will be confounded when 


Si. Thomas of Villanova. 199 

he sees that we know and publish his weak¬ 
ness.” The next day all was done as he 
desired, and the girl was cured. He also 
delivered by his prayers a young lady of 
Valentia, who had been possessed for a long 
time, without those about her being able to 
discover whether it was by a good or an evil 
spirit. A doctor named Halaya, to whom 
they brought her to confess, discovered by 
very evident marks that it was the devil who 
spoke by her mouth; yet he only laughed 
at him, and did not cease tormenting her 
even in his presence. At last they brought 
her to the archbishop. He made her come 
into the church, and after having prayed and 
said mass for her, she was perfectly cured. 


CHAPTER V. 


OF HIS HUMILITY AFTER HE BECAME ARCHBISHOP. 


i\ 


t HE holy fathers who treat of prayer, say, 
that it is a virtue which pierces heaven; 
and that to soar on high, it makes use 
of two other virtues as wings. Faith 
and Humility. By the light of faith, we dis¬ 
cover how powerful and merciful God is, 
in relieving our necessities, and loading us 
with benefits; and by humility, we see our 
own misery and helplessness, and we hasten 
to throw ourselves into the arms of His 
goodness and clemency. 

The connexion between prayer and humil¬ 
ity, naturally leads me to carry on the history 
of St. Thomas, by treating in this chapter of 
his humility, having spoken in a former one 
of his gift of prayer. In all the states 
through which he passed before his elevation 
to the episcopal throne, he had always pre¬ 
served sentiments of deep and genuine hu¬ 
mility; but after entering the prelacy, the 
depth and intensity of those feelings in¬ 
creased. He always believed himself un- 
200 







S^, Thomas of Villanova, 201 

worthy of the high ministry to which our 
Lord had called him. The sweetness and 
affability with which he treated every one, 
testified that he knew how to practise the 
saying of the wise man, “ Be so much the 
more mild and humble when raised to a 
higher dignity.” The poor and the rich were 
admitted equally to his house. And without 
making exception to any one, he accommo¬ 
dated all according to the state and quality of 
each. He had no porter, as was then the cus¬ 
tom; the man at his door was merely kept 
that he might be informed more quickly when 
he was wanted by any one, whether at study 
or prayer. At his house there were no ante¬ 
chambers and cabinets to be passed through 
before reaching his presence. The doors 
were closed only at night; the whole of the 
day they were left open, that all those who 
wished it might have access to him at any hour. 
His house was always crowded with the poor, 
the old, the blind, and the needy, who came 
to tell him of their troubles and their miseries. 
Instead of avoiding the visits of these poor 
people, he received them with so much kind¬ 
ness and humanity, that to show his affection, 
and to give them more freedom and con¬ 
fidence, he seated them near himself, convers¬ 
ing amiably with them to put them at their 


202 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

ease. Never did he show the least disgust, 
however poor and ragged they might be, and 
he often remained with them for hours, com¬ 
forting them, and exhorting them to bear with 
patience their anguish and their griefs. Some¬ 
times it happened that the poor entering his 
hall, and not knowing him on account of his 
mean attire, would ask him if Dr. de la Porte 
was in his room, that they might go there to 
receive their alms. This person was his Visi¬ 
tor, and the principal distributor of his alms. 
“Wait a moment, my friends,” he would say, 
“I will go directly and call him.” And then 
he would go and tell the doctor that the poor 
waited for him, and beg him to go quickly 
and attend to them with love and charity. 
His heart was so tender and full of goodness 
that he could not see any one in affliction 
without being sensibly touched. And even 
when at table, if he remembered having seen 
any one cast down or sad, he would rise and 
not return till he had entirely consoled him, 
considering so charitable an action as the 
most exquisite dish of his repast. 

There are three things which are certain 
effects of the virtue of humility. The first is, 
the not discarding or looking down upon 
one’s poor relations when one is raised above 
them, and not blushing if they are in a mean 


St. 'Thomas of Villanova. 203 

and contemptible situation •. of life. The 
second is, to fly whatever savors of pomp 
and ostentation ; and the third, to grant re¬ 
quests with facility, and easily to accept ex¬ 
cuses and reasons which are offered, as well 
on account of the esteem the truly humble 
man feels for others, as the low opinion he 
entertains of himself. These three effects 
of humility were wonderfully united in our 
holy prelate. His origin was low, as I have 
before said, and though his father was well 
enough off, it is certain that he had a number 
of relations who were poor. But he never 
despised them for their poverty. On the 
contrary, neither dazzled with the splendor 
of the episcopal dignity, nor the high estima¬ 
tion in which he was held throughout the 
world; he was always pleased to entertain 
them in his house, and was desirous they 
should all call him their relation. One day 
when he was on important business with the 
bishops of Tortosa and Segovia, an uncle of 
his arrived at his house, with a linen apron 
hune from his neck after the fashion of the 
peasants of Castile. He showed much joy 
at seeing him, and saluted him warmly in the 
presence of his company. “ Vou are wel¬ 
come, uncle,” said he, “be seated. Their 
lordships will excuse my asking news of my 


204 Thomas of Villanova. 

mother and relations.” He spoke to him 
with so much sweetness and affability, that 
the spectators were not less edified than sur¬ 
prised with his holy simplicity. Then he 
called his steward to entrust him to his care, 
saying, “ Go and rest yourself, uncle, as soon 
as I have finished here you shall see me.” 
Then turning towards the bishops, he told 
them that this was his uncle, the brother of 
his mother. Another time a cousin-german 
came to Valentia, not so much to see and 
visit the archbishop, as to obtain from him a 
sum of money. He received this cousin with 
the same affability and kindly welcome, and 
kept him nearly a month in his house, and 
then inquired into the state of his affairs. 
“ They are bad enough,” replied the man, 
“ since of two oxen that I possessed, one is 
dead, so that I am obliged to stop my work.” 
“Ah well,” said the Saint, “I will give you 
enough to buy another, not in consideration 
of my relationship, but to assist you in the 
extremity of your affairs. I give this on con¬ 
dition you ask nothing more of me, because 
what I have is not my own, nor have I any 
right to enrich my relations with it, but it is 
entrusted to my care to help the poor.” 
Similar meetings often took place with rela¬ 
tions whom he loved and caressed. But he 


Thomas of Villanova, 205 

never forgot the rules which justice and 
charity required in the distribution of the 
ecclesiastical revenues. 

He abhorred also whatever in the least 
partook of pomp and grandeur. There 
would be no end to the relation of what he 
has said and written on this subject. In his 
house everything bore the stamp of sim¬ 
plicity and poverty. But his desire of lead¬ 
ing an entirely apostolic life was especially 
seen in his public appearances, when he 
would not allow a throne to be raised for 
him, nor a carpet to be spread under his feet 
in the church. The first time that he preached 
in his cathedral, he endured with difficulty 
the piece of brocade with which the pulpit 
was dressed on his account; and on leaving 
it he strictly prohibited the sacristan from 
ever again dressing it for him, but to let it 
remain as it was usually for others. And 
although Don Jerome Carros d’Estavo, vicar- 
general of the chapter, entreated that for the 
honor of the Church and his own dignity, the 
pulpit might be dressed when he preached, 
he could never obtain his request, excepting 
that he allowed him to hang on a corner of 
it some small piece of embroidery, from which 
he might draw instruction for the people. At 
the solemn festivals when he celebrated pon- 


2o6 S^. Thomas of Villanova. 

tifically, he was never vested sitting; nor 
was he pleased at seeing around him so many 
servants and ministers; but preferred that 
the sacristan should assist him to vest, as he 
did the other priests. Nothing could be 
more poor and simple than his usual orna¬ 
ments. All the enrichment of his chapel con¬ 
sisted in some old painted linen, and except 
the alb and amice which he had, he was 
obliged to borrow from the cathedral what¬ 
ever was necessary for the celebration of the 
sacrifice when he wished to say mass. He 
had recourse also to the cathedral for the 
cross and chalice. His mitre was of plain 
white damask, without any ornament. In 
his visitations he generally used whatever he 
found in the parish churches, however poor 
and shabby they might be. However, it is 
certain, that his not being provided with the 
ornaments that other prelates possessed, 
arose neither from avarice nor carelessness. 
He whom our Lord had endowed with so 
rare a judgment and singular virtues could 
be guilty of neither. But he deprived him¬ 
self of these things in favor of the poor, on 
whom he bestowed all that he thus saved. 
Joined to this consideration, came in his vow 
of poverty and his extreme love of humility. 
Now it happened by a special providence of 


S^. Thomas of VUlanova. 207 

God, that what in others gave rise to con¬ 
tempt, was in his case a subject of edification, 
and a powerful motive for increased reve¬ 
rence, to those who saw his sweetness and 
affability in so elevated a position. 

The third effect of humility which I men¬ 
tioned, was beyond everything perfect and 
admirable in this Saint. He treated his 
priests with much honor and respect, appear¬ 
ing to forget he was their superior. When 
discoursing with them he would insist upon 
their not standing, but would seat them close 
to his side, and listen to them in a most 
amiable manner, frequently preferring their 
opinions to his own. When he reproved 
them he often begged their forgiveness, if he 
feared he had pressed them too hard with 
his remonstrances. 

Having once heard a very sad account of 
one of his canons, who was in reality a man 
of probity, but who had enemies who were 
so much the more dangerous as they ap¬ 
peared wise and moderate, he summoned 
him before him, and reproved him very 
severely. But no sooner had the canon justi¬ 
fied himself, and clearly made out his own 
innocence and the malignity of his enemies, 
than the Saint embraced him, and said, “ May 
God comfort you, as you have comforted me 


2o8 kS/. Thomas of Villanova. 

by what you tell me ! Pardon me, I entreat 
you ; for I assure you that if I were at liberty 
to name the persons who have so deceived 
me, you would judge as I did, that they were 
worthy of credit.’’ A complaint was also 
made against another canon, who was in 
reality guilty. The mildness and benignity 
of the holy archbishop shone forth brightly 
in this instance. Having fully informed him¬ 
self of the facts of the case, and seeing no 
amendment, he judged it proper, in order 
not to connive at vice, to call him into his 
presence. He showed him his fault, and the 
scandal it produced, and entreated him to 
correct himself and amend his life,- and thus 
spare his archbishop the pain of correcting 
him. The canon, instead of profiting from 
this remonstrance and charitable advice, flew 
into a rage, and said, that being a member 
of the Holy Office, he was not amenable to 
him, nor would he recognize him as judge, 
with many other inconsiderate words. To 
so great a height did he carry his imperti¬ 
nence, that one of the domestics wished to 
arrest him, but the mild and gentle prelate 
would not allow him. Let him depart,” 
said he, “ it is not his fault; it is I who have 
been wrong in giving the occasion of it by 
my remonstrances against what he has done, 


Thomas of Villanova. 


209 


which were a liltle too rough.” However, 
the officers of the Inquisition heard of the 
offence their coadjutor had committed, and 
put him in prison, judging that they could 
not let it pass with impunity, without injury 
to the love and respect they bore the Saint. 
They dispatched a messenger to the arch¬ 
bishop, informing him that if he thought good 
they would send the criminal to him, to be 
chastised as he thought proper, otherwise 
they were resolved to punish him as he 
deserved. The holy prelate, who was just 
sitting down to table when the message 
arrived, was so sensibly affected, that he went 
immediately to the Inquisition, beseeching 
the Inquisitors to release him instantly, assur¬ 
ing them that it was he who had given cause 
to what had passed. He was so earnest with 
them, that he protested he would not leave 
them till they gave up the prisoner into his 
hands. At length he gained his end, and to 
show his joy, like the good shepherd who has 
found his lost sheep, he embraced him with 
tenderness, and shed many tears over him. 
Then having to return to his house, he wished 
to have his company through the town, that 
by his familiar and friendly manner towards 
him he might stifle the rumors which were 
already abroad of his imprisonment, on ac- 
14 


210 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

count of his having insulted the archbishop; 
and also that his honor and reputation might 
be preserved in the estimation of those who 
saw them conversing thus together. 


CHAPTER VI. 

ST. THOMAS HAD NO EESPECT TO PERSONS.—OF HIS CONTEMPT FOB 
ALL CREATED THINGS.—OF HIS EVANGELICAL LIBERTY. 


sometimes happens that mildness and 
humility are rather the effects of a natu¬ 
ral weakness and low-mindedness, than 
a true virtue of the soul. This is easily 
discovered when a want of resolution in re¬ 
sisting evil is seen. True humility, which is 
not a weakness of nature, but a holy and 
admirable virtue, can bear to be abased, and 
to give up its own interest to that of another, 
when the glory of God or the good of a fellow- 
creature requires it; while at the same time 
it knows how to act with courage and firmness 


when it is expedient and right to do so. To 
show that what has been already said of the 
humility of St. Thomas in all his actions, could 
not be looked upon as the effect of natural 






21 I 


S^. Thomas of Villanova. 

meanness, but proceeded from true virtue as its 
principal and proper origin, it must be made 
clear how free he was from all inordinate affec¬ 
tion to relations, friends, wealth, honors, and 
all sorts of human considerations, that he might 
preserve himself in that high and holy liberty 
of mind, of which he made such admirable use 
on every occasion in which he was engaged 
by the duties of his charge. Though his re¬ 
spect and tender affection for his mother were 
so great, he never allowed her more than a 
hundred crowns a year, until she became 
aged, when remembering that at his solicita¬ 
tion she had deprived herself of all her wealth 
to enrich the poor, he knew she must require 
more assistance in her infirmities. He gave 
two hundred crowns a year to each of his 
brothers, and forty to his uncle, because they 
had families which they were unable to sup¬ 
port without this alms. The Saint once sent 
a domestic, named Gabriel Trovado, to inquire 
after his mother. She charged him expressly 
to say to her son, that he should remember 
she was mother of an archbishop, and that the 
hundred crowns he paid her yearly was not 
sufficient to support so many poor who came 
to lodge in her house, which she still kept for 
that purpose. However, she could never 
obtain anything more from him. “I have,” 


212 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

said he, “sent my mother what I know is ne¬ 
cessary for the support of her house. If she 
were here, I might see what I could do. As 
it is, I give her sufficient to live conformably 
to the customs of the country, and to her con¬ 
dition. If she wishes to give more to the 
poor than I send her, I cannot help her, since 
the revenues of the archbishopric of Valentia 
belong to the poor of A^alentia, and I should 
act against my conscience in distributing them 
to others.” 

His brothers used often to complain also, 
that he did not take into consideration the 
size of their families in his small allowance, 
and begged him to increase it. He refused 
them also; and to induce them to labor and 
manage their affairs with prudence, he told 
them at once and decidedly, that they had 
nothing more to hope for from him. His 
other relations who solicited his charity he 
treated in exactly the same manner, giving 
them just what was necessary, as he did 
others, and no more. One day he showed 
much displeasure towards a nephew who 
had come to inform him of his daughter’s 
marriage with a doctor. From the inequality 
of rank, he could not approve this alliance, 
and spoke very strongly to the father on the 
subject. “What!” said he several limes, “the 


S^. Thomas of Villariova. 213 

daughter of a peasant to a man of letters! 
you have done wrong.” His treasurer, who 
was present, to appease him, and at the same 
time to please the father who was confused 
and astonished, said, “ It seems to me there is 
not so great a disparity between the parties. 
The daughter of the nephew of an archbishop 
deserves at least some advantage. And then 
it is very easy to remedy all the rest by adding 
to her dowry whatever your Lordship may 
think proper.” “ God forbid,” said the good 
prelate, “ that I should ever commit such a 
fault. The revenues of bishops are not given 
them to enrich their relations, but to assist the 
poor.” He then commanded him to give his 
nephew fifty crowns. “Take this, nephew,” 
said he, “it will suffice for the expenses of 
your journey; but expect nothing more from 
me. What I have is not mine, but belongs 
to the poor of my diocese.” 

Two other relations went to spend the 
festival of Christmas with him, to offer him 
the good wishes of the season, and also hoping 
to obtain some gift from him. But they were 
disappointed. For though he received them 
with joy and a hearty welcome, yet he gave 
them only what was just necessary to defray 
all their travelling expenses. One of the two 
told him he was greatly in want of a mule for 


214 Thomas of Villanova. 

labor; he gave him the money, but for fear 
he should spend it in any other way, he 
made him buy the mule before he set out. 
He treated in the same manner one of his 
relations who came with the intention of 
remaining in his service. He received him 
with affection and affability, kept him some 
time in his house, and then dismissed him, 
giving him what was necessary to take him 
back to his own country, and nothing more. 
Some marks of dissatisfaction appeared in 
the behavior of this man. “ How!” said the 
Saint to him, “does it seem to you that 
I have given you but little? Do you not 
know that I shall be called to account by 
God, if I dare to deprive the poor of what 
belongs to them ? Certainly I should have 
given you nothing if I had not known that 
you needed wherewith to carry you home. 
Go then, and return no more with the idea 
that I shall ever enrich you, remembering 
that whatever I possess does not belong to 
me, but to the poor of the province.’’ 

As the holy archbishop was entirely free 
from all inordinate affection to his relations, 
so was he also free from consideration to 
rank or any other human distinction. No¬ 
thing ever induced him to lower his character 
by a base condescension or cowardly compli- 


SY. Thomas of Villaiiova, 215 

ance; nor was he ever known to flatter any 
one, or offer a useless compliment. He had 
received from our Blessed Lord an admirable 
freedom of spirit. His heart was great and 
generous, and filled with that apostolic vigor 
which St. Paul desired for his son Timothy. 
When at Valladolid he never paid visits to 
the emperor. He was only seen at court 
three or four times, and even then he had 
been brought there by charity for the salva¬ 
tion of some miserable beings. Though he 
was the emperor’s preacher, and was often 
solicited by the lords of his suite to visit him, 
and who assured him of his majesty’s esteem 
and affection, yet he always declined, saying 
that his majesty had so much to occupy him, 
and those such weighty affairs, that he ought 
not to be approached unnecessarily; and 
that whenever he should do him the honor 
to command his services, he would always 
find him ready and willing to obey him. 

This rule of not visiting the court he kept 
so strictly, that having gone from Burgos, 
where he was prior, to Valladolid to preach 
the Lent there before the emperor, he re¬ 
turned without speaking to him or paying 
him any compliment, because no occasion of 
charity had drawn him into his presence. 
The emperor was so anxious not to lose one 


216 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

of his sermons while he was at Valladolid, 
that he gave orders to be informed whenever 
he preached at the convent. One Sunday 
that he was going to preach, the emperor 
arrived a little before the time, and going into 
the cloisters, he found the sacristan there. 
“Go,” said he, “and tell the father prior that 
I am here.” The sacristan went, and the 
Saint returned this answer, “Tell his majesty 
I am preparing to go into the pulpit. If he 
commands me to come to him, I shall not be 
able to preach; but if he wishes me to preach, 
he must excuse my coming to him.” The 
sacristan acquitted himself of his commission, 
not without fear of displeasing the emperor 
by an answer which seemed to him not very 
civil. However, his majesty received it in 
very good part, and in a manner which 
showed his entire satisfaction, he said to 
those around him, “I wish all religious were 
like this good father, and that they had no 
more respect of persons than he has.” 

About this time there arose a question 
among the learned in Castile; and the 
casuists were consulted as to whether a 
certain thing could conscientiously be intro¬ 
duced into the kingdom, which would seem 
to lead in the end to the injury of the public, 
and perhaps be the entire ruin of the people. 


S^, Thomas of Villanova, 217 

The Saint, who was advised of this, felt 
obliged, in order to prevent the evil, to speak 
of it publicly before the emperor, finding that 
no one came forward to induce the council 
to reject it. Preaching then one day in his 
presence at Valladolid, he began in these 
words, “May I entreat your majesty to com¬ 
mand that curtain to be undrawn? because 
having to address you individually, you will 
do me a great favor if you will allow me to 
see your countenance, that I may the better 
say what I wish.” The emperor immediately 
ordered the curtain to be undrawn. “Sacred 
majesty,” said the Saint, “I have been re¬ 
quested to tell you my judgment on a certain 
affair treated of in your council. I have but 
one word to say to your majesty, which is, 
most humbly to beseech you to consider with 
your usual zeal and prudence what are the 
characters of the persons who make this 
proposition, and who dare to charge them¬ 
selves with an affair which is viewed with 
horror by all the wise, and all those who 
have any religious feelings.” After a few 
more words uttered with great power, he 
concluded thus, “I have nothing more to say 
upon this subject. If your majesty pleases, 
you can command the curtain to be drawn. 
This liberty of speech astonished the audi- 


2i8 


kS/. Thomas of Villanova. 


ence, but it edified the emperor marvel¬ 
lously ; who instead of being offended, ap¬ 
proved it, and the high opinion he had formed 
of the preacher’s sanctity was increased by it. 
From this we may judge what St. Thomas 
would do in reproving ordinary persans when 
archbishop, since he could speak in this 
manner to so great a monarch, while only 
a simple religious. 

He received with civility the numerous 
letters written to him by princes and lords, 
and answered them with the same civility. 
But when asked to do anything which was 
not just and right, he added without ceremony 
that he should be most happy to serve them, 
but it was impossible to comply with their 
request, without breaking the laws of God, 
which it was not permitted him to do. 

I could relate numberless instances of his 
strength of mind and generosity, if I did not 
fear being wearisome, for which reason I will 
cut this subject short by relating a circum¬ 
stance which occurred between him and the 
emperor on an occasion no less remarkable 
than the preceding. News having reached 
Spain that the Turks were going to attack 
the island of Ivizza, the islanders sent depu¬ 
ties to the emperor, entreating him to build 
them a citadel. This demand was granted, 


SL ThoJiias of Villanova, 219 

but not so quickly executed for want of finan¬ 
ces. As the emperor had no resources in 
Spain, he was advised to apply to the arch¬ 
bishop of Valentia for the loan of twenty 
thousand crowns. The Saint replied to the 
deputies of the island and the imperial com¬ 
missaries, that he humbly begged his majesty 
to excuse him; that he had nothing belonging 
to himself, nor could he lend him anything, 
the revenues of the archbishop being the 
property of the poor, and not his own. After 
some discussion, the officers begged him to 
consider the great need they had of this 
money, which was destined to be applied to 
the common good of Christianity, and again 
asked him on what conditions he would 
oblige them. “I quite understand the neces¬ 
sity of the case,” said the good prelate, “ but 
yet I cannot do it; because God has not 
placed the island of Ivizza under my care, as 
he has the diocese of Valentia. It is not just 
to use for the fortifications of Ivizza, money 
which is intended for the relief of the poor, 
whose prayers to God constitute the princi¬ 
pal strength of states and empires.” In 
short, he refused their demand, knowing it 
would be acting contrary to the will of God 
and the duties of his charge. They then 
began to tell him how much displeased the 


2 20 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

emperor would be at his refusal and his reso¬ 
lute answers. “I should grieve,” said he, 
“ to give his majesty reason to be offended 
with me, but it would be much worse for me 
to offend God. But if unhappily his majesty 
is offended, here is the key of'my cell, which 
I carry still at my girdle. And I assure you 
that I should very much prefer returning 
there to live and die, than to continue in a 
palace. And touching what you say as to 
the compassion I ought to feel towards this 
poor country, God knows I would contribute 
to its preservation against the infidels, at the 
price of my blood. But let us see what can 
be done. His majesty demands twenty thou¬ 
sand crowns. I cannot give them without 
injury to the poor; but let the sum be divided, 
and I will lend his majesty ten thousand, 
on condition he assigns me that sum by a 
secure bond to be returned at a certain time, 
otherwise I can do nothing without loading 
my conscience with a thing for which I shall 
be accountable one day to God.” The agree¬ 
ment was made in this manner. He lent the 
ten thousand crowns, of which he received 
six thousand during his life, and the other 
four were paid afterwards, and employed in 
works of charity, according to the orders he 
left at his death, as will be seen in its proper 


221 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 

place. See how our Saint could unite gen¬ 
tleness and humility with firmness of mind, 
when he thought it necessary. 


CHAPTER VIL 


or THE CARE HE TOOK OF HIS HOUSEHOLD, AND THE CHARITY 
WITH WHICH HE TREATED ALL THOSE UNDER HIS JURISDIC¬ 
TION. 


T^AVING undertaken in this chapter to 
J J show with what prudence and charity 
oil this good pastor governed the flock 
entrusted to him, it is fitting to begin by 
examining his way of conducting his own 
house, since, as the apostle says, “If a man 
know not how to rule his own house, how 
shall he take care of the Church of God?’’ 

The method which St. Thomas adopted in 
his household was perfectly pious and Chris¬ 
tian. One of his rules was, never to receive 
any one into his service without speaking 
with him himself, and being careful to obtain 
information of his life and morals, at the 
same time making him thoroughly understand 
what he required from him, and what would 
be his employment. He afterwards pre- 






22 2 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

scribed certain rules, of which the four fol¬ 
lowing were the most important: In the first 
place, he was expected to live in peace with 
every one; and for this object he forbade 
any of his servants to meddle with the affairs 
of others, but to confine his attention strictly 
to what concerned himself; and, secondly, 
he enjoined them to be modest and very 
retired. He never allowed those in his 
employ, whoever they were, to go out with¬ 
out his express permission, treating them 
in this respect as if they had been in a mon¬ 
astery. All the doors of his house were 
closed before night, so that no one could 
possibly go out, even if he had had the incli¬ 
nation. His third rule was, that they were 
never to repeat anything of others, either 
to him or any one else. Lastly and princi¬ 
pally, he enjoined them to be devout, never 
to fail at prayers, to frequent the Sacraments, 
to confess and communicate at the solemn 
festivals, and every first Sunday in the month, 
and to recite daily the little office of the 
Virgin, or, if they could not read, the Rosary. 
If he discovered that any of them had failed 
in his duty, he called him to him and cor¬ 
rected him as a father, regarding them all 
as his children. He particularly showed his 
paternal affection and charity when they were 


223 


Thomas of Villanova, 

sick, causing them to be attended with more 
care than in a similar case he would have 
allowed them to bestow on himself. 

But as he knew the soul to be much more 
noble than the body, so did he bestow much 
more care upon the health of their souls than 
their bodies. From time to time he assem¬ 
bled them all together, and though he had 
two almoners capable of instructing them, 
yet he taught them himself, and gave them 
spiritual lessons in form of conferences; en¬ 
couraging some and reproving others, and 
all with words so gentle and yet powerful, 
that they were led to their duty rather by 
love than fear. In addition to their wages 
he occasionally gratified them by something 
extraordinary. A servant of his, called 
Philip Jovier, having once received from him 
fifty crowns more than his due, wished to 
express his gratitude to his good master. 
“Take that, my son,” said the kind prelate, 
“it is not in my power to give you more at 
present, for I am in debt to my treasurer, 
but continue to conduct yourself well, and I 
will endeavor for the future to be more 
liberal towards you.” In his house experi¬ 
ence justified the truth of the proverb, that 
the good master makes the good servant. 
For the holy archbishop had so formed his 


224 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

domestics after his own example, that there 
was amongst them no other ambition than 
that of attaining to virtue. Complaints, mur- 
murings, tale-bearings or detractions, were 
never heard in his house. 

As detraction was a sin which the Saint 
held in especial horror, if he found himself in 
company with persons who spoke disadvan- 
tageously of others, he always defended the 
cause of the absent, and endeavored to do 
away with the unfavorable impression raised 
against them. ‘'You do not look at this in 
a right point of view,” he would say, “you are 
wrong, because he may have had a good in¬ 
tention ; as for myself, I believe that he had.” 
He was once asked by some poor miserable 
creature, to go and obtain of the emperor a 
favor. As soon as he entered the antecham¬ 
ber, all the lords who were in waiting, rose 
to do him honor, though he was at that time 
but a simple religious. Having prevailed 
on him to be seated, one of them began to 
speak of an absent person. The Saint, who 
soon perceived to what his discourse tended, 
interrupted him, and said, rising at the same 
time, “Sir, I humbly entreat you either to 
change this subject or permit me to retire, 
because if you continue any longer, I see 
clearly that God will be displeased.” Being 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 225 

at this moment sunimoned to the emperor, 
he was no sooner gone, than the constable 
of Castile, who was there, said to the others, 
“Truly, gentlemen. Father Thomas is a reli¬ 
gious everywhere, as much at court as in the 
cloister; ho respect of men will prevent him 
from being so, wherever he is.” 

We will now speak of the love and charity 
he felt universally for all who depended on 
him, and who lived under his jurisdiction in 
his diocese. The good archbishop entered 
so completely into their afflictions, and so 
tenderly compassionated them under their 
sorrows, that he passed the greater part of 
the night in his oratory, at the foot of the 
crucifix, beseeching our blessed Lord to grant 
the petitions which had been recommended 
to him the preceding day. And like another 
Jacob, he never quitted the holy struggle 
with God till he had received the blessing 
and the relief he had implored for his poor 
brethren. It is commonly said, that the 
mouth speaks from the abundance of the 
heart; this axiom is true principally in per¬ 
sons who are humble, sincere, and without 
guile, such as was this great servant of God. 
At table, in the evenings, and in fact when¬ 
ever he was with his friends, he scarcely dis¬ 
coursed on any other subject than the means 
15 


2 26 ^S7. 7 h mu as of Villanova. 

which could be found to remedy the wants 
of his people. “ I beg of you as a fava:)r,” 
said he one day to Dr. de la Porte, “ to com¬ 
fort this poor man a littleand at another 
time, “Let me recommend to you the wants 
and distresses of that poor widow.” Such 
words as these were constantly on his lips, 
suggested by his fatherly care. He never 
showed the least sign of impatience, nor felt 
himself importuned by the number and assi¬ 
duity of the poor people who had recourse 
to him incessantly. There was no time nor 
hour in which they were not at liberty to go 
to him. His charity towards his neighbor 
was so great, that he could conceive no evil 
to be without a remedy, nor any infirmity to 
be incurable. All his people had orders 
never to send any one away, to be affable to 
every one, and to call him to the first who 
inquired for him, telling them it was all his 
pleasure and consolation in this world to see 
his poor sheep run thus to their shepherd. 

When the hospital, which had been des¬ 
troyed by fire, was rebuilding, the good arch¬ 
bishop went almost every day to hasten the 
work; and solicited the men to labor hard, 
with so much zeal and earnestness, that one 
would have thought all the sick and poor 
had been his own brethren. On his first 


S/. Thomas of Villanov'i. 227 

arrival in Valentia, he took the bre d as it 
were from his own mouth to feed them, giv¬ 
ing them the four thousand crowns with 
which he had been provided for his own 
necessities; and immediately he received his 
revenues as archbishop, he sent a part to the 
hospital to advance the building; besides 
which he did not cease to recommend it to 
the charity of his auditors in all his sermons. 
He felt for all and each who gave alms to 
the hospital the same gratitude and obliga¬ 
tion as he would have done if they had re¬ 
lieved his own necessities. Like the high- 
priest Aaron, who carried the names of the 
children of Israel written upon his shoulders 
and breast, this holy prelate carried his 
people in his heart and bore them on his 
shoulders, by supporting their infirmities and 
imperfections, and charitably providing for 
their miseries. His compassion for those 
who had fallen into sin was unbounded, as 
well as his zeal and gentleness in recovering 
them from it. He hated sin, but loved those 
to whose amendment he was instrumental. 
The souls that he drew from the gates of 
hell to those of heaven were so numerous, 
and there were so many persons who re¬ 
nounced their sinful courses and dedicated 
themselves entirely to. the service of God, 


2 28 S^, Thomas of Villanova, 

that he who would undertake to give an 
account of them might fill volumes with this 
one subject alone. He spared neither labor, 
nor tears, nor blood, nor money, when neces¬ 
sary to save a soul; and sometimes he even 
yielded his rights, and declined exercising 
his authority, when expedient to do so for 
the same object. I will relate some exam¬ 
ples of this. In one of the parish churches 
of Valentia, the choir having finished chant¬ 
ing the office one Good Friday, a certain 
priest who was standing at the altar where 
the Blessed Sacrament had been brought 
from the sepulchre, for what reason the his¬ 
tory does not relate, fell into a passion, and 
called out and blasphemed in a horrible 
manner, to the great scandal of all who were 
assisting. The holy archbishop, who was 
informed of this outrage, called him into his 
presence, and reproved him with all the rigor 
that his offence deserved, intending to punish 
him severely. But no sooner did he witness 
his repentance, his deep sorrow and tears, 
than he said to him, “You know well that 
your blasphemy, joined to the scandal you 
have given, demand an exemplary punish¬ 
ment, and in truth, I was resolved, in accord¬ 
ance with my duty, to chastise you as you 
deserve; nevertheless I pardon you, since 


St. Thomas of Villanova, 229 

you see and acknowledge your fault, and in 
imitation of our merciful Lord, who receives 
the sinner when he weeps and detests his 
crime, I will treat you with mildness. During 
three days you will fast and give alms to the 
poor of your parish, that they may pray to 
God for you ; and as your fault has been 
public and scandalous, go into the church and 
be seen in the choir, but abstain from saying 
mass for fifteen days, that those who have 
witnessed the sin may also see that it is only 
as a penitent you dare to approach our Lord, 
after having so grossly offended Him at His 
holy altar.” 

Another time he was touched to the quick 
by an account that a layman brought him of 
an ecclesiastic, whom he accused of improper 
intercourse with a woman, and even of being 
the father of three children. Nevertheless, 
wishing to preserve his honor, the good arch¬ 
bishop defended him in such a way, that the 
accuser said to him, “ Certainly, my lord, 
your goodness must be very great, since you 
defend even the wicked against justice.” 
Without being piqued by this reproach, after 
having made inquiries to ascertain the truth 
of the affair, he dismissed his visitor, and sent 
for the priest into his oratory, and there gave 

him so severe a reproof, that in spite of his 
14 


230 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

attachment to the woman, and the pledge of 
their sacrilegious love, he protested that for 
the future all intercourse with her should 
cease. The Saint, who was overjoyed at 
seeing him so well disposed, confirmed him 
in his good resolutions, and to deprive him 
of the means of returning to his sinful course, 
he provided a husband for the woman, and 
took charge of the children; and when they 
were grown up, he provided for the two boys, 
and gave the girl so good a dowry, that she 
married respectably, as well as the mother. 

Having learnt also that two other priests 
led bad lives, he summoned them separately 
into his oratory, after having for a long time 
supplicated the Almighty to touch their 
hearts, and there reproved them with so 
much zeal and effect, that they at once re¬ 
solved to renounce their bad practices. For 
this purpose they for some time left the town 
to bewail their sins in solitude, and to pre¬ 
pare themselves to make an entire confession 
of their past lives; and both of them ever 
afterwards led strictly penitential lives. And 
when the good prelate learned that poverty 
had been the occasion of their fall, he as¬ 
signed to each of them an annual pension, 
and at the same time gave their two accom¬ 
plices a dowry, which placed them in a situa- 


S^. Thomas of Villanova. 231 

tion to marry honestly, and to serve God 
henceforth in the observance of the laws 6f 
holy matrimony. 

Another priest was brought to him by the 
archers, who had taken him in the night, 
armed and dressed in an extravagant manner 
quite unbecoming his profession. They ex¬ 
pected the Saint would immediately order 
him to prison, instead of which he desired 
them to leave him in his house, saying, “ Be 
satisfied that I will pay what is due to you for 
your capture, the rest is my concern; it be¬ 
longs to me to setde matters with this per¬ 
son.” He then caused a bed to be prepared 
in his chamber, as soon as the archers were 
gone, and made him lie down, whilst he re¬ 
tired into his oratory to lay open his heart be¬ 
fore God, and represent to Him this piteous 
spectacle; with burning tears conjuring His 
Divine Goodness not to permit the Blood 
which He had shed for this poor unhappy 
being, to have been shed in vain. After a 
long and fervent prayer he returned to the 
priest, and began to reprove and exhort him 
in words so powerful and full of the Spirit 
of God, that this man, who seemed to have 
lost all fear and compunction for his fault, 
seeing the excessive charity of his holy pre¬ 
late, returned to his senses, made a firm 


232 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

resolution to change his life, and to employ 
what remained of it in the service of God, 
by a holy and perfect penitence. At break 
of day the Saint took leave of him with these 
words, “Return to your house, my brother, 
return at once, and never forget the great 
mercy God has shown you this day. This 
is all the punishment I award you.” The 
heart of the priest was truly changed, so that 
he made a full reparation by the holiness of 
his life for all the evil he had caused by his 
bad example. To avoid a wearisome repe¬ 
tition, I will now dismiss this subject, only 
saying, that the number, both of ecclesiastics 
and laymen, that he brought by such means 
as these from vice to virtue, from hell to 
heaven, is almost beyond belief. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


SEQUEL OF THE PRECEDING CnAPTER, IN WHICH IS SHOWN THE 
NUMBER OF CONVERSIONS HE OBTAINED BY THE SEVERE DIS¬ 
CIPLINES HE USED. 


S it is usual for most men to form their 
judgment of things, not as they are in 
reality, but acccorcling to their indi¬ 
vidual bias and disposition, I will here 
relate some instances to prove, that what has 
been already said of the piety of St. Thomas 
of Villanova, did not proceed from pusilla¬ 
nimity or deficiency of zeal for the glory of 
God and the maintenance of the archiepisco- 
pal rights. 

A canon of his cathedral having been 
arrested by the governor of Valentia, John 
de Villeraze, for having seriously hurt one 
of his officers, the chapter, who were greatly 
concerned at this, exerted themselves to the 
utmost to obtain his release. But finding 
their efforts useless, they had recourse to 
the archbishop, imploring him to spare them 
this ignominy, and to exert his authority in 
behalf of their brother. He replied that he 
was deeply grieved at this accident, and 
wished it were in his power to act, and to 
spare their companion such a disgrace, but 

233 


234 Thomas of Villanova, 

that his hands were tied by the concordat they 
had made on his arrival; so that it was use¬ 
less for them to call upon him to protect a 
person who was exempted, by their privi¬ 
leges, from his jurisdiction. 

This answer afflicted them to the last 
degree, and fearing that whilst they were 
losing time in soliciting one and another for 
the criminal, justice might proceed to his 
condemnation by a definitive sentence, they 
offered to submit themselves to the arch¬ 
bishop’s jurisdiction during his life, and 
passed a public act to that effect. In conse¬ 
quence of which the Saint sent immediately 
to inform the prisoner, and began to proceed 
by the way of ecclesiastical censures against 
the governor, and continued with the greater 
firmness on account of a black and most 
unworthy action committed soon after by the 
same man against a subdeacon. This young 
ecclesiastic having unfortunately killed a man 
in the bull-fights, which were the usual diver¬ 
sions in Spain at the time of the Carnival, 
he dragged him to prison, and there, without 
any judicial process, caused him to be stran¬ 
gled and his body cast into the town with the 
cord still around his neck, every one trem¬ 
bling with horror and dismay at the sight 
of so barbarous a spectacle. 


235 


S^, Tho7nas of Villaiiova, 

The generous archbishop finding that after 
two or three remonstrances, the governor 
still refused to give up his canon, cut him 
off with all his adherents from the commu¬ 
nion of the faithful, by the greater excommu¬ 
nication, and at the same time caused an 
interdict to be published throughout the city, 
where the churches were closed and the 
divine offices ceased, according to the usual 
practice on such occasions in Spain, and 
sometimes in cases of less importance. The 
interdiction lasted several months, notwith¬ 
standing all the viceroy’s efforts to oblige 
the archbishop to raise it. To his entreaties 
he joined threats of seizing the temporals 
of his church, and employed all his power 
against him, that what he would not grant by 
fair means he might be compelled to do by 
force. The Saint, firm as a rock, sent this 
answer to the viceroy’s menaces: “ To be 
faithful to your king, your excellence is 
obliged to maintain his authority by every 
just and reasonable means against those who 
would weaken it. In like manner, seeing 
the wrong done to the Church, it is my duty 
to defend it with the arms that God has 
placed in my hands, unless I would wish to 
pass for, and to be, a cowardly and merce¬ 
nary pastor. And as to the revenues of the 


236 6'/. Thomas of Villanova. 

archbishopric that you threaten to seize, I 
shall not be the loser by your performing 
your threat, but the poor, to whom they 
belong. And I ask for nothing better, than 
to be discharged from the burden of the 
prelacy, to return to the life of a simple 
religious in his cell. And finally, I should 
esteem myself happy, not only to lose my 
property but my life, in protecting the Church 
that God has given me.” At length the 
viceroy, judging by these concluding words, 
animated by an ardent and apostolic zeal, 
that the holy prelate would relax nothing of 
his resolution, and considering also that he 
was in the right, sent orders to the governor 
that he was to submit to his pastor. The 
canon was released on the Saturday before 
Palm Sunday; the governor acknowledged 
his fault, and humbly received and performed 
his penance. The third day after Easter, 
the archbishop from the pulpit explained to 
the people what had passed, protesting that 
it was not without much grief on his part 
that the interdict had lasted so long; but that 
he could not raise it whilst the honor of the 
church was concerned. With respect to 
their governor, who had been the cause of 
this disorder, he told them he was not the 
less Christian or Catholic for having thus 


Thomas of Villanova, 237 

resisted the ecclesiastical censures, seeing’ 

' o 

he had thought he could do so lawfully; 

added to which, he had obeyed the viceroy, 
and humbly submitted himself to the Church. 

But the holy archbishop never employed 
these violent remedies except in extreme 
cases. He loved rather to shed his tears 
and his blood before God for the salvation 
of the souls committed to him, and to punish 
himself for the sins of his flock by severe 
disciplines, than by exerting his authority to 
force them to their duty by means which 
would cost him less, if he had chosen to avail 
himself of the power of his office. His 
charity had ample room to exercise itself, for 
libertinism and dissoluteness of manners had 
in his time arrived almost at their utmost 
height in the greater number of those who 
were consecrated to God. Having been 
informed that a certain ecclesiastic, whom he 
had several times reproved for his bad con¬ 
duct, still continued to scandalize the world 
by his immoralities, he sent for him to his 
house; and taking him privately into his 
oratory, he laid before him, in a forcible 
manner, the miserable state in which he lived, 
and the pernicious example his depraved 
morals gave to every one ; showing him at 
the same time the punishment which his 


238 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

crimes deserved. “ However,’- said he, “ as 
it is perhaps my clemency which has fomented 
your debauchery, and as it seems to me you 
have continued your disorderly life only 
because I have delayed to punish you, I re¬ 
solve to bear the penalty myself.” So say¬ 
ing, he prostrated himself before a crucifix, 
and began severely to discipline his body, 
which he had half uncovered, and continued 
this rigor until the guilty man could no longer 
suffer the remorse of his conscience, and ter¬ 
rified at seeing this proof of the excessive 
charity of his good prelate, threw himself at 
his feet, saying, “ My Lord, cease, in the 
name of God. Give me that discipline, I 
beseech you, that I may expiate my sins by 
my own blood, not by the effusion of yours. 
Why should the innocent suffer for the guilty ? 
No, I promise you, in the presence of this 
adorable crucifix, so entirely to change my 
life and manners, that for the future you shall 
be perfectly satisfied with me. And for what 
is past, I ask no favor from your goodness. 
Treat me according to the most rigorous 
justice. Impose on me what penance you 
shall think proper, for there is nothing that 
I will not do, by the grace of God, to satisfy 
Him for my offences.” The Saint embraced 
him tenderly, and praised God in his heart 


239 


Sf. Thomas of Villaiiova. 

for the impression he had just made upon 
this poor miserable man. To fortify him in 
his pious resolution, he made him an exhort¬ 
ation so affectionate and so full of the Spirit of 
God, that he went from his presence, his 
eyes bathed in tears, and for six months re¬ 
mained struck with astonishment, and unable 
to recover the natural expression of his coun¬ 
tenance. The rest of his days were passed 
in the service of God and His church in a 
most exemplary holiness of life. 

The Saint met with many other similar 
occasions, where, in order to succeed and 
obtain the object of his desire, the conversion 
of souls, he spared nothing. He never 
esteemed his money better or more usefully 
employed than when given as alms to poor 
ecclesiastics, to support them respectably 
according to their condition. At one time 
having met with one whose guilt was caused 
by his poverty, he inflicted upon himself as 
severe a penance as if the fault had been his 
own. After several useless remonstrances 
he caused him to be arrested; but scarcely 
had he been eight days in prison, when, 
regarding him with the eye of charity, which 
suffers more in punishing than he does who 
receives the punishment, he released him, 
and summoning him into his oratory, said to 


240 SL Tho 7 nas of Villanova, 

him, “ Come here, my friend. Many a time 
have I entreated you to renounce your bad 
habits ; tell me what are the ties which bind 
you so obstinately to sin. Open your heart 
to me, I conjure you in the name of God. 
Imagine that you are not before your arch¬ 
bishop, but that you are speaking to your 
dearest friend, for in truth I assure you, that 
after God, there is nobody in the world who 
loves you better, or who more ardently 
desires the salvation of your soul, than 
myself.” The poor priest, touched by these 
expressions of burning love and charity, 
humbly confessed his crime, the time of com¬ 
mitting it, and the cause which kept him 
engaged in it, which was poverty. At the 
word poverty, the good prelate groaned as 
if his heart was being torn from his body. 
“Is it possible,” said he, turning to the cruci¬ 
fix, “ O King of Glory, that from being poor 
it can be said that one of my sheep has 
offended you ? It is, then, my fault, not his. 
For this reason, my Lord and my God, I 
conjure you, by the blood that you have shed 
upon the cross for him, that you will show 
him mercy. Open his eyes, make him see 
his deplorable state, that he may renounce 
it and detest it, and that he may return to 
Thee. As to myself, I wall take the punish- 


Thoinas of Villanova, 241 

ment which is due for his sins, since it is I 
who am the cause of them.” Then address¬ 
ing the unhappy man, he said, “Return to 
3^our house, receive nothing whatever from 
the person you know of; I will provide for 
you. Recite your office devoutly, recommend 
yourself fervently to our blessed Lord, and 
return here to-morrow. But as this satisfac¬ 
tion is nothing to the punishment you deserve, 
take great care that you do not fail in a single 
point of what I have commanded.” St. 
Thomas passed the night groaning and pray¬ 
ing in his oratory for the conversion of this 
sinner, mingling his tears with the blood that 
he drew from his body by a very severe dis¬ 
cipline. The next day the priest arrived 
at the appointed hour. St. Thomas again 
took him in private, and discoursed to him 
with the same fervor and zeal as the preced¬ 
ing day; and although he was the sworn 
enemy of ostentation, and never spoke wil¬ 
lingly^ of his private exercises and devotions, 
yet he judged it expedient to do so on this 
occasion, in order to touch the feelings of 
this poor man, and make him enter into him¬ 
self. He discovered to him then a part of 
his chest and shoulders wounded and bloody. 
“See, my brother,” said he, “see the marks 
of the penance I have done for your sins. 


242 S^. Thomas of Villanova. 

Be assured that if you are so unhappy as to 
return to them, despising the mercy I have 
shown you, that God who is just will deprive 
you of His, and will cut you off as a dry and 
useless tree to serve as fuel for the eternal 
fires.” These words filled the soul of the 
guilty man with so much terror and confusion, 
that, humbled to the dust, he approached to 
kiss those wounds, promising an amendment 
of life so solid and so exemplary, that he 
should for the future have only reason to 
commend. “Ah well,” said the Saint, “remain 
firm in these resolutions, examine your past 
life, and make a good general confession. 
As to your future maintenance, give yourself 
no concern about it, I will allow you three 
crowns a month, and what is necessary for 
your daily support. See if it is enough.” 
For several years this alms was continued to 
the poor ecclesiastic, until, finding himself 
able to live respectably according to his state 
of life, he declined receiving it any longer, 
feeling it was doing an injury to the poor, as 
it was depriving them of what was their pro¬ 
perty. 


CHAPTER IX. 


OF THE CARE WHICH HE TOOK OF THE HONOR OF HIS CLERGY, 
AND OF HIS CHARITY TOWARDS THE POOR. 

S it is the property of true charity to dis¬ 
tinguish between sin and the sinner, in 
such a manner as to hate the one and 
love the other, so also superiors who 
possess that divine virtue are accustomed to 
correct those under their control in such a 
way, as while punishing their faults to pre¬ 
serve their honor and reputation. 

This doctrine was common and familiar to 
our Saint in the pulpit, as may be seen in his 
Book of Sermons. But what he so well 
taught to others he practised still better him¬ 
self. He endeavored to hide as much as 
possible the faults of his clergy, and to pre¬ 
vent any other than himself from discovering 
them. He kept a book in his cabinet in 
which he registered the names of his eccle¬ 
siastics and the crimes of which they were 
accused. When informations were brought, 
he copied them into this book, and then threw 
the originals into the fire. In drawing up 
the depositions against them, he never em- 

243 



244 '5'/. Thoinas of Villaiiova, 

ployed any officers but his own visitors, to 
whom he especially recommended secrecy, 
so jealous was he of the reputation of the 
clergy. He gave them in private the correc¬ 
tion they deserved, and when he saw the 
amendment he so much desired, he effaced 
what he had written in his book, or tore out 
the leaf to obliterate all remembrance of it, 
and to prevent its being handed down to 
posterity. The extreme care that he took 
of their good name made him watch their 
conduct most carefully ; though he did not 
place much reliance on the accounts brought 
him by laymen, his charity leading him to 
suppose that some of their complaints might 
proceed from interest or passion. 

On one occasion the parishioners of Liria 
brought a charge against their curate. He 
listened to them patiently and heard out the 
accusation, and did not fail to inform the 
accused of what was said of him, warning 
him to take care of his conduct. In speak¬ 
ing of the affair to Dr. de la Porte, he told 
him he had great difficulty in believing the 
story, “Although,” said he, “these people 
assure me that the fault of their pastor is 
notorious, and well known throughout the 
parish. Go you and visit this place ; I will 
furnish you with authority to draw up the 


245 


Thomas of Villartova, 

informations; yet recommend the affair to 
our Lord, and beg of Him light to discover 
the true state of the case.” The visit was 
made, and it was found that the good prelate 
was correct in his idea, and that their accusa¬ 
tions were false and calumnious, with only 
a very trifling foundation even in appearance. 

At another time he gave a very severe 
reprimand to one who brought a similar 
accusation. It was a charge against one of 
his brethren, made by a man, devout, retired 
from the world, and of irreproachable life. 
The Saint at first permitted him to speak, 
but the heat of his manner and his indiscreet 
zeal called for an interruption. “ Gently, 
gently,” said he, “ dismiss all anger, and look 
a little into yourself. Remember that he of 
whom you are speaking is your brother, and 
as he is in the way of salvation, God can 
make him a Saint, notwithstanding his present 
weaknesses. You may fall into the same 
fault, or you may perhaps fall into a worse 
one. But supposing that you remain upright, 
tell me to whom are you indebted for it, if 
not to the pure mercy of God? Was it 
necessary for you to come here to discharge 
your spleen at the expense of your neighbor? 
Ought you not rather, according to the pre¬ 
cept of the gospel, to have warned him of his 


246 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

defects in private, before making them 
known ?’' After this charitable advice, with 
which he dismissed the accuser, he sent for 
the accused and talked to him in such a way, 
that of these two ecclesiastics whom he found 
faulty, each In a different manner, he made 
the one more holy, and the other more wise 
and cautious. 

When he wanted to send for any one to 
give him advice or correction, he ordered 
the messenger to walk two or three hundred 
steps before or behind the party summoned, 
for fear that suspicions to his prejudice might 
be excited if he were seen going to the arch¬ 
bishop so attended. 

So great was his compassion towards those 
whom he was compelled to place under 
restraint, that no sooner were they In prison, 
than it was the first desire of his heart to 
release them. All that he required was, that 
some one should petition for them, and that 
there should be some slight sign of amend¬ 
ment. 

Having once confined one of his clergy 
whom he had often reprimanded without 
effect, he was much grieved to find that after 
some time had passed no one appeared to 
speak in his favor. His charity induced him 
to seek for intercessors to plead in his be- 


►S 4 Thomas of Villanov%, 247 

half. “ It seems,” said he to Dr. de la Porte, 
“ that this poor priest has no other friend 
than myself. Find some one, I entreat you, 
to speak to me in his favor. Perhaps he will 
correct himself after my remonstrances and 
all that he has suffered.” It was done as 
he requested. The priest was brought into 
his presence, and his pardon begged of the 
archbishop, who granted it after a little delay, 
upon the promise that he made amendment 
of life for the future. 

This was his ordinary practice on such 
occasions, and where necessity required it 
he often added liberality to their deliverance. 
He was once so touched with compassion 
at the sight of one who was miserably clothed, 
that he sent him a cassock and cloak by a 
secret messenger. He took especial care 
that his prisoners, whether clerks or laics, 
should be liberally supplied with whatever 
was necessary for their support. And as his 
object was to gain their souls, not their 
money, he would never hear, under any pre¬ 
text, however specious, of a pecuniary com¬ 
pensation for their deliverance. In one single 
instance he changed the punishment of im¬ 
prisonment for that of a fine of ten crowns, 
to be paid to the great hospital, in the case 
of a priest who was very rich and avaricious, 


248 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

because he knew it would be touching him in 
the tenderest point, and the most likely to 
teach him wisdom. But this example was the 
only one of its kind. To the remonstrances 
of those who urged that this commutation of 
one punishment for another was very usual 
in other dioceses, he answered, I know it 
well, nor do I wish to condemn the usage; 
but we judges and ecclesiastical superiors 
ought to make our inferiors understand and 
feel that their salvation is the object of our 
desire, not their purses.’* 

The gaoler once complained to him, that 
instead of gaining anything in his service, 
he incurred some expense in the exercise 
of his duty, from the number and poverty 
of his prisoners. Upon his simple word the 
good prelate paid him whatever he said he 
had expended from his own resources, and 
promised that henceforth he would always 
do the same. The compassion he felt for 
these unhappy men induced him often to 
bestow very large sums on the officers of 
justice over and above their wages, as well 
to make them kind and gentle towards the 
criminals, as to prevent them exacting any 
money from them. His domestics were 
treated in the same liberal way. He regu¬ 
larly gave them each ten crowns at Easter, 


S/. Thomas of Villanova, 249 

as a gift, in acknowledgment of their ser¬ 
vices, besides what he always paid them for 
extraordinary journeys. If they fell into 
misfortune or disgrace, he endeavored to 
extricate them from their difficulties, and 
provided them with whatever help they re¬ 
quired. 

A man named James Civra, whom he had 
sent to Enguera, having fallen ill, he charged 
the physicians and surgeons, to attend him 
assiduously, and at the same time sent him 
ten crowns by his almoner, and three days 
afterwards nine more, with all the nourish¬ 
ment that both he and his family could want, 
and in the course of a few days visited him 
himself, to console him and to bestow him 
additional relief, telling him to be quite easy, 
for he should be supported until his perfect 
recovery. Don Francis of Navarre, his im¬ 
mediate successor in the archbishopric of 
Valentia, said, when he considered his char¬ 
ity and his other heroic virtues, “Where 
is the man who can attain to the height of 
this giant?’* 


CHAPTER X. 


THE VIGILANCE AND PRUDENCE OF THIS HOLY PASTOR IN THE 
GOVERNMENT OF HIS FLOCK. 

\F the various qualities springingr from 
the love which the good pastor feels 
for his flock, there are two, highly use¬ 
ful and necessary to prelates, and in¬ 
deed, to all superiors who desire to acquit 
themselves worthily of their duties. The 
first is vigilance, which demands their utmost 
care and labor to be used for the spiritual 
good of those they govern, and an incessant 
unwearied watching for their salvation, with 
a willingness to sacrifice even health and 
life if necessary to obtain this object. The 
second is prudence and Christian discretion 
in selecting the most proper opportunities 
and convenient seasons for setting about any 
work with a good hope of success. 

St. Thomas of Villanova, whom the provi¬ 
dence of God had raised to the episcopate 
to enlighten the Church, and to be an ex¬ 
ample to the prelates of his own time, as 
well as to all future ages, possessed these 
two virtues in a preeminent degree. The 
250 





S/. TJioinas of V^dlanova, 251 

greatness of his obligations dwelt perpetu¬ 
ally on his mind, and the thought of his 
responsibility kept him constantly in exer¬ 
cise and actively engaged in doing good, 
knowing on one hand the power and strata¬ 
gems of that roaring lion who seeks to make 
his prey of the wandering sheep, and on the 
other how weak and helpless the sheep are 
to resist so powerful an enemy, unless pro¬ 
tected and defended by the shepherd of the 
flock. For this reason he neglected no 
means for keeping those entrusted to his 
care in safety; he endeavored to know the 
defects of all, and each in particular, that he 
might be the better able to assist them and 
ward off the assaults of the enemy. It has 
been already related that he kept an account 
of all his clergy; in the same way he had a 
book for lay persons, in which he wrote with 
his own hand the names of the debauchees, 
concubines, gamesters, married men who 
lived separated from their wives, and in short 
of all those generally who were leading pub¬ 
licly scandalous lives, that he might reprove 
them privately, and exhort them to return 
to their duty, as his prudence and charity 
dictated. Sometimes he sent for one, some¬ 
times for another, but always separately, and 
addressed all according to the mind and con- 


252 Thomas of Villanova, 

dition of each. His first remonstrances were 
always those of a father and true pastor, and 
if they made no impression, he used his 
authority as judge, which Spain at that time 
(and even now in certain cases) gave her 
prelates to punish the obstinately guilty. 

Instead of excommunication and the cen¬ 
sures of the church, which he never employed 
but with extreme pain, he either imprisoned 
the offender, or punished him by some pecu¬ 
niary fine, which he always applied to the 
relief of the poor, though, as already men¬ 
tioned, he was a great enemy to this latter 
mode of punishment. If in spite of all his 
endeavors he met with any one over whom 
neither gentleness, threats, nor even im¬ 
prisonment had any influence, as a final 
remedy he had recourse to the power of the 
viceroy, who punished his hardness of heart 
by exile, hunting him out of the kingdom. 
The good prelate hoped that the fear and 
shame attending such a chastisement might 
perhaps lead to amendment; and where it 
failed to produce the desired effect, he con¬ 
soled himself by the thought, that being cut 
off from his flock, the contagion of his bad 
example would no longer infect the rest of 
the sheep. 

One great cause of regret with St. Thomas 


Thomas of Villa 7 iova. 253 

was the utter impossibility of his becoming 
acquainted with all those who lived under 
his jurisdiction ; his diocese being unusually 
large and extensive. It was on this account 
that he endeavored to obtain the division of 
the archbishopric, and of the one diocese to 
make two. He wrote to the emperor, repre¬ 
senting to him that the state of Valentia was 
quite sufficient for the archbishopric, and the 
mountainous country with that of Xativa 
would very reasonably constitute a bishopric. 
That for his part he was ready to renounce 
his rights and his revenues in proportion as 
his charge should be lessened, and that if it 
pleased his imperial Majesty he would him¬ 
self write to the pope explaining his views, 
that the more bishops there were and the 
fewer souls they have to govern, the more 
easily will they know them, and as our Lord 
says, “call them by their name,” that they 
may serve, assist, and watch over them. 

He was much interested in persuading 
married persons to live together in peace 
and concord. If he heard of an instance 
where this harmony did not exist, he spoke 
to the husband and wife separately, exhort¬ 
ing them to unity of heart, and afterwards 
did the same in presence of them both. 
And from knowing their reciprocal com- 


2 54 "Thomas of Villanova, 

plaints and griefs, he contrived so well and 
spoke so judiciously, that he often renewed 
their affection, and left them with the reso¬ 
lution of performing their duties to each 
other. In cases where the rich were con¬ 
cerned, he added to remonstrances, warnings 
of the indignation of God and of the ruin 
of their family. If they were poor, and 
sinned through ignorance, he charitably in¬ 
structed them in their duty, and if he per¬ 
ceived that poverty was the cause of their 
estrangement from each other, he easily 
applied a remedy by his charity. 

The burning desire he felt for the conver¬ 
sion of the Moors in the kingdom of Valen- 
tia, continually occupied his mind, and left 
him no repose. Not being able to achieve 
this great work, he had several times endea¬ 
vored to be relieved from his responsibility 
as archbishop; and when he found that the 
powers on whom he depended would not 
consent to it, he wrote to the emperor, beg¬ 
ging that he would be pleased to assign a cer¬ 
tain sum sufficient to maintain some pious 
and learned curates, who might also be full of 
zeal to labor in this ungrateful soil. From 
the motions of this same charity, he founded 
a college for newly converted children, with 
ten thousand crowns of rent, which, with the 


St Thomas of Villanova. 255 

permission of the pope and emperor, he 
alienated from the revenues of the arch¬ 
bishopric ; beseeching them at the same time 
to see fit to increase this foundation from the 
same source, according as in the course of 
time their numbers increased. 

Before Lent he was accustomed to assem¬ 
ble all his preachers, and exhort them to 
labor diligently during that holy season, 
explaining to them what kind of sins were 
the most common and the most requiring 
attack. He entreated them ever to recol¬ 
lect, that their object in ascending the pul¬ 
pit should not be to preach up themselves; 
nor their design to gain reputation by the 
exhibition of their knowledge or eloquence; 
but the grand desire of their hearts should 
be to attack and destroy vice, and to found 
and establish in its place the empire of Jesus 
Christ. 

Those who were confessors, he also pre¬ 
pared for this season of penitence, and the 
harvest of souls, by prescribing certain rules 
in the form of familiar instructions. Such 
as, that they should feel no astonishment or 
surprise when they found grievous sinners at 
their feet, still less should they repulse them 
by indiscreet zeal; but on the contrary, they 
should receive them warmly, and listen to 


256 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

them charitably. At the same time he gave 
them this caution, that if any one appeared 
so hard and indifferent as almost to freeze 
them with his coldness, he must not be ab¬ 
solved, but some honest and legitimate ex¬ 
cuse for dismissing him sought for, with the 
advice to retire for some days from the 
world, and petition for the grace of God to 
discover the heinousness of sin, and to feel 
the necessary sorrow and compunction for 
having committed it. “And,” he would say, 
“with regard to yourselves, be sure always 
to implore the mercy of our Lord in their 
behalf, in your prayers and sacrifices, and you 
will see that His Divine Goodness will by 
this means bless your undertakings. This is 
what, I assure you, I practise myself, and I 
find the benefit of so doing.” A striking testi¬ 
mony of the value which the Saint set upon 
the soul and its salvation, and an illustrious 
proof of his prudence and charity in con¬ 
ducting and assisting them in the ways of 
God. 

There were certain maxims and principles 
of prudence from which he never departed, 
some of which I will mention. That it was 
requisite to teach and explain to all whatever 
was necessary to be followed or avoided; 
carefully to seek the most suitable means 


257 


67 . Thomas of Villanova. 

for arriving- at the end proposed; to make 
use of the laws, and to apply universal rules 
to particular cases, conformably to the times 
and the necessities of each person. These, 
and such as these, were his favorite maxims. 

He was never deterred from any under¬ 
taking by rumors or reports. He listened 
patiently to tedious narrations, that he might 
be enabled to form a more mature and 
weighty judgment He never engaged in a 
certain evil under the appearance of good. 
By a wise and holy condescension he accom¬ 
modated himself to the young, the ignorant 
and the weak; and, like another Elijah, he 
used every means for the good of his fellow- 
men. However inconsiderable the affair 
might be, he never resolved upon anything 
suddenly, but took time to consider, saying 
usually, “We shall say mass to-morrow, and 
we will pray God to inspire us with what He 
will have us to do.” It was very difficult to 
make him believe the failings of any one, 
unless he heard it from persons of authority 
and gravity. He suspended his judgment 
until he was certain of the thing from the 
mouth of the accused himself, or by the 
depositions of several who were ocular wit¬ 
nesses of the fact. He generally attributed 
to passion or surprise what he heard of 


258 Tho 7 nas of Villafiova, 

others, unless he had the clearest proof to 
the contrary. To yield his rights, when by 
doing so he could avoid contention and 
deprive the world of a subject of animadver¬ 
sion, was never a difficulty with him. For the 
sake of peace he often dissembled his feel¬ 
ings, and appeared not to notice things which 
other persons beneath him in station would 
have laid hold of in order to resent. He 
made as few new ordinances as possible, 
saying, that to publish orders, to multiply 
commands, and to add to censures, except 
from absolute necessity, was nothing short 
o-f exciting opposition, and giving occasion 
for men to offend God more grievously, 
since he who fears not to commit a mortal 
sin, will scarcely care for censures. 

Having found on his arrival in Valentia 
that a great number of the inhabitants kept 
mistresses, he severely rebuked them in his 
sermons, and endeavored by every means 
in his power to reform them; but not seeing 
the amendment he wished, he threatened 
them from the pulpit, and told them publicly, 
that if they once by their incorrigibility 
obliged him to have recourse to censures 
and excommunication, he would act against 
all and each in particular with the utmost 
rigor and severity. Some time after this 


259 


vS4 Thomas of Villanova, 

he caused his mandate to be posted up, and 
the nature of the punishments he was ready 
to denounce against the guilty. This man¬ 
date caused much dismay and excitement 
throughout the city, and induced several of 
the principal inhabitants to go to the arch¬ 
bishop, beseeching him not to proceed to ex¬ 
tremities ; endeavoring to persuade him that 
though his intention was praiseworthy in 
itself, yet these were not times to exercise 
his authority without doing much evil and 
very little good. He replied, that since 
neither his entreaties nor threats would lead 
them to amendment, he was resolved to 
employ his last remedy; adding, that with 
regard to the evil they foresaw would hap¬ 
pen to several, it would be their own fault, 
not his; that in this affair he acted from a 
sense of duty, his object being to produce a 
reformation in any w^ay that he could. 
He wished also to show to all the world 
that he was not one to flatter men in their 
vices through servile fear, since he was 
determined to do whatever lay in his power 
to punish them and oppose himself to their 
scandalous conduct. In this resolution he 
showed so much firmness that the offend¬ 
ers were terrified, and the greater part, 
though probably against their will, returned 


26 o SL Thomas of Villanova. 

to their duty and gave up those sinful con¬ 
nexions. 

This procedure, which only deserved ap¬ 
plause from its great success, failed not to 
meet with a censor to whom it gave offence. 
This was a certain doctor, who had wished 
that immediately after the noise of the thun¬ 
der, the Saint had hurled the thunder-bolt 
upon the criminals, and could not refrain 
from openly blaming his wisdom, saying, 
that the archbishop and all his ministers had 
sinned mortally by their too great indul¬ 
gence. The good prelate replied to him 
who brought an account of this, “Without 
doubt this theologian is a good man, but 
of the number of those fervent ones men¬ 
tioned by St. Paul as possessing zeal without 
knowledge.” He then ordered the canon. 
Non potest, qucest, 4, catis, 23, which is taken 
from the third chapter of the second book of 
St. Augustine, to be brought and read to him, 
where this holy Doctor expressly instructs 
prelates and all ecclesiastical superiors, that 
when they find that a vice is very deeply 
rooted it is better to have recourse to our 
Lord by prayers and tears, reproving the sin¬ 
ner in the spirit of love and charity, than to 
take the sword in hand and excite the pas¬ 
sions of men by excommunications and cen- 


6*4 Thofuas of VUlanov a, 261 

sures. “Is that good man, who does not 
entertain these sentiments, aware,” said he, 
“ of the care and pains I have taken to cor¬ 
rect those against whom his anger is directed? 
Have I not reproved and exhorted them sev¬ 
eral times, both In public and private, and 
mentioned them as incorrigible to the viceroy 
and governor of Valentia ? Let him in short 
inquire whether St. Augustine and St. John 
Chrysostom, those two great lights of the 
Church, used anathemas and excommunica¬ 
tion, to arrest the progress of drunkeness 
and swearing, which were so common among 
the people under their care ? No: for they 
were too wise and too prudent. They did 
not think It right to exchange a little good 
for a great evil, nor inconsiderately to use 
their authority, and thus excite the aversion 
of those whose friendship they wished to ob¬ 
tain in order to influence them for their good.” 

The prudence of the Saint shone conspicu¬ 
ously in the Invention of certain means, 
equally ingenious and innocent, that he some¬ 
times used to draw persons of distinction 
from the habits of sin, when neither his ser¬ 
mons nor private admonitions had been able 
to arouse them to a sense of their duty. 

For a long time he had, with the utmost 
solicitude, endeavored to procure an am^nd- 


262 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

ment of life in one of his canons, without 
making the least impression on his mind. 
He resolved to gain his friendship, whatever 
it might cost him; for which purpose he dis¬ 
missed the subject of his past life, and for 
two years continued to show him every 
imaginable kindness and favor, until he 
thought he had not a greater friend in the 
world. Seeing he had gained his affection, 
he chose his time and said to him one day, 
*‘I am convinced of your good will towards 
me, and that you would feel gratified in doing 
me a service; is it not so ?” The canon 
assured him of his friendship, and protested 
that there was nothing, however difficult it 
might be, that he would not undertake with 
the object of pleasing him, if he would do 
him the honor to confide in him. “ I believe 
you,” replied the Saint. “I have an affair at 
Rome which requires an intelligent man like 
yourself to manage it, to obtain a happy 
result. Will you take charge of it, and make 
this journey for me? For I know not any 
one into whose hands I can entrust my inte¬ 
rests more securely than in yours.” The 
truth was, he was in want of some one near 
the pope to solicit a brief, without which he 
was unable to surmount some great difficul¬ 
ties that were raised to prevent the reforma- 


Thomas of Villanova. 263 

tion of certain religious, whom he wished to 
reduce to inclosure. At first the canon was 
very much surprised and astonished, yet not 
being able to find any plausible excuse, he 
luade, as is said, a virtue of necessity, and 
replied, that he was ready to execute what 
he should be pleased to command. “Now 
then,” said the prelate, “return to your resi¬ 
dence, take leave of your friends, and settle 
your affairs as if you were never to return 
from this journey, because in reality it is long 
and dangerous.” After finding these orders 
had been obeyed, he said, “Come this even¬ 
ing to my house, and we will sup together. 
You shall sleep there also, and to-morrow 
morning early I will set you on your way. 
You need not bring any servant; I will give 
you one of mine, who shall accompany you, 
and who will serve you better than any of 
your own.” But the good prelate, who was 
more anxious for the eternal interests of the 
canon than for his affair at Rome, having 
taken leave of him in his chamber, instead 
of retiring to his own, went into his oratory, 
where he passed the night praying and weep¬ 
ing at the foot of a crucifix. A little before 
day he returned to his guest’s room, saying, 
“ My friend, you have omitted to do some¬ 
thing of consequence. You have settled 


264 •S'4 Thomas of Villanova, 

your house and affairs, you have even assured 
me that you have made your will as if on the 
point of death; but as far as I can judge, the 
principal thing yet remains to be done, which 
is, to set your conscience in order, imploring 
assistance from on high by a good confession 
and communion, for the happy termination 
of so long and perilous a journey. , On this 
account, as my business at Rome is not 
urgent, your departure can be delayed a 
month. I have-thought of a project which 
may not perhaps be disagreeable to you, 
which is, that since you cannot return to your 
own house, nor make your appearance in the 
city, without creating inquiry, you should 
remain quietly here. Nobody but myself and 
the single servant who will attend upon you 
in your chamber will know anything of it. 
Every one will think you are set out on your 
journey. You can employ yourself in making 
an examination of your conscience, that you 
may afterwards confess to whomsoever you 
shall select. We will send for the priest you 
shall choose, to receive your confession with¬ 
out letting him know who you are ; after 
which I will communicate you in the chapel, 
and you shall then depart with the blessing 
of our Lord, which it ought to be our object 
to obtain upon every undertaking.” 


kSV. Tho 77 ias of Villanova. 265 

The canon listened to the archbishop as 
if God Himself had spoken to him, and ac¬ 
quiesced in all that he proposed. At the 
end of a month his confessor persuaded him 
to ask for a further delay, telling him it would 
be much to his spiritual advantage to remain 
in seclusion for another month, perfectly to 
accomplish that work which our Lord had 
begun in his soul. He willingly complied 
with his advice, his heart being already so 
touched that he was quite another man. The 
Saint granted his request with joy, well know¬ 
ing how useful and indeed necessary it was 
for his establishment in good. Two months 
having thus passed away, the journey was 
still delayed, the expected letters from Rome, 
without which he could not proceed, not 
having yet arrived. As it was God Himself 
who by a special providence conducted the 
affair for the good of the soul of this devout 
recluse. He inspired him with a willingness 
to remain in retirement, as the good prelate 
wished, till the letters arrived from Rome, 
which he really believed could not be much 
longer delayed. He continued six months 
occupied in the holy and salutary exercises 
of penitence without feeling the least weari¬ 
ness, so delightful had solitude become to 
him, At length, at the end of that period, 


266 S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

the brief arrived. The good prelate showing 
it to his devout penitent, said, “See, the brief 
itself is come instead of the letters I expected, 
so that it will not be necessary for you to 
undertake the fatigue of this journey. Never¬ 
theless, I feel as much indebted to you as if 
you had actually performed it, and will en¬ 
deavor to recompense you on every occasion 
I may meet with, of testifying my friendship 
for you. This evening the news of your 
arrival will be spread abroad, and to-morrow 
morning you can return to your house.” 
His conversion was complete, and the change 
in his life and manners astonished all those 
of Valentia who had known him before, see¬ 
ing the grace of God superabound where sin 
had before abounded. This was a sinorular 

o 

proof of the Saint’s care and love for the 
souls under his charge, and of the admirable 
prudence with which he treated them in order 
to obtain their salvation. 

By this same spirit of prudence he knew 
how to accommodate himself to simple and 
sincere persons, charitably bearing with their 
ignorance when it proceeded from zeal and 
piety, however great and extraordinary their 
mistakes might be. On one occasion several 
villagers of Mislara, in the diocese of Valen¬ 
tia, seeing the air thickened and covered 


Thomas of Villanova, 267 

with clouds, which threatened a sudden and 
horrible tempest, the thunder beginning to 
roll on all sides, whilst the continual' lightning 
made the heavens appear to be on fire, ran 
into the church to entreat the curate to pre¬ 
sent himself at the door of the church with 
the Cross or the Blessed Sacrament, in order 
that it might please God to avert the threat¬ 
ened danger. Not finding the priest there, 
a orood old man amonorst them clothed him- 

o o 

self in a cassock^ and with a napkin proceeded 
to take the ciborium where was the Blessed 
Sacrament, and to carry it to the lower end 
of the church, followed by other peasants, 
with a wax candle in his hand, to implore 
the Divine mercy with much faith and devo¬ 
tion. This action was in itself rash, and 
deserved to be punished in the person of the 
old man, who made the sign of the cross and 
gave the benediction of the Blessed Sacra¬ 
ment which he held in his hands. Never¬ 
theless our Lord, by the virtue of His Divine 
presence, granted to the faith and piety of 
these poor people an answer to their peti¬ 
tion, visibly dispersing the storm which they 
dreaded, without its touching their territory. 
This fact being related to the archbishop, he 
sent for the good old man who had taken 
the prominent part in the affair. He praised 


268 54 Thomas of Villanova. 

his faith and zeal, but reproved him for his 
too little reverence for the Blessed Sacra¬ 
ment, and made him fully understand his 
fault; and to expiate it, knowing he had 
some little property, he ordered him for a 
year to carry two white wax candles to the 
church, and to cause them to be lighted be¬ 
fore the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday 
and festival during mass, until the post¬ 
communion. 


CHAPTER XL 

OF THE WONDERFUL CHARITY OF ST. THOMAS TOWARDS THE POOR. 

^"^HOSE who know what Saint Thomas 
I thought concerning the obligation of 
all bishops and ecclesiastical superiors 
to liberality in alms-giving, and who 
have heard the reason why he was called the 
father and great almoner of the poor, will 
have no difficulty in believing what is re¬ 
corded of his extreme munificence towards 
them. He loved them so tenderly, and was 
always so much disposed to do them good, 
that not content with giving them what he 






269 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 

could spare, he often deprived himself of the 
common necessaries of life to assist them in 
their distresses. On his arrival in Valentia, 
he obtained information through Dr. Mis- 
leguer, who came to welcome him, of the 
amount of the archiepiscopal revenues, and 
expressed dissatisfaction at finding that it 
was not more than eighteen thousand ducats. 
“I have been deceived,” said he, '‘I was told 
it was worth more. But do not imagine that 
I complain on my own account, or that it is 
my own interests which I am considering 
when I speak in this manner, since a thou¬ 
sand ducats are more than sufficient to sup¬ 
port me and my family. But I am sorry 
because of the number of poor, which is so 
great in this country; and from what you 
say, I shall not have enough to maintain 
them.” After the general synod was con¬ 
cluded, which he had assembled for the spirit¬ 
ual good of his diocesans, he directed all his 
care and thoughts to the management and 
distribution of his temporalities, to be enabled 
to support the poor. 

Of his eighteen thousand ducats he gave 
to them twelve thousand, including the thou¬ 
sand spent in the foundation of some chap¬ 
lains in the cathedral, to increase the number 
of those who assisted at the night office, and 


270 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

the two thousand that went to the college 
and rectories he had likewise founded for 
the new converts. With the remaining six 
thousand he paid a pension of two thousand 
to Don George of Austria, his predecessor; 
and the other four were employed in his 
household expenses, and paying the officers 
of justice, as procurers, advocates, and others. 

Every day there was cooked in his house 
a large caldron of meat or fish, according to 
the season, which was given to poor travel¬ 
lers who were in want. Moreover, to others 
who generally came about noon, there was 
a regular distribution of soup, bread, and a 
cup of wine, with the addition of money to 
those that were maimed or sick. The poor 
who came there daily were from four to five 
hundred, and sometimes more, so that al¬ 
though the court was large and spacious, 
they were sometimes obliged, as one may 
say, to make a second table. The charity 
of those who received them did not deprive 
of their portions those who did not come in 
proper time; they were welcome at all hours, 
because the Saint had expressly commanded 
that no one should go from his house unre¬ 
lieved ; but at the same time he directed they 
should be warned that henceforth they should 
be more punctual to the hours assigned. 


271 


S/\ Thomas of Villanova. 

He never relaxed his liberality, though he 
was constantly told that a number of these 
poor people were idle vagabonds, who abused 
his goodness, and who laughed at his servants 
after having deceived them by obtaining two 
alms instead of one. “If,” said the Saint, 
“there.are here vagabonds and idle people, 
it is for the governor and the judge of police 
to look to them; that is their duty; mine is 
no other than to assist and relieve those 
who come to my door. God in His mercy 
preserve us from ever refusing an alms to 
the poor! What matters it if they do de¬ 
ceive us and laugh at us, provided, that we 
relieve them in sincerity of heart, and in the 
name of Him, who to enrich us was willing to 
live and die poor?” As he one day looked 
from his hall into the court, where ‘ alms 
were being then distributed, he perceived a 
poor man, after having received his portion, 
pass over to the side where those were 
standing who had not yet been ' served. 
Nevertheless, he did not perform this feat so 
skilfully but that one of the servants detected 
him, and loaded him with reproaches. The 
man maintained that he had received nothing, 
and proceeded to utter complaints and invec¬ 
tives. The good archbishop, who knew the 
truth, sent to tell the servant to be silent, 


272 S^, Thomas of Villanova. 

and to satisfy the poor man, and also desired 
to know the reason of the uproar. '‘My 
lord,” said the servant, “ it is because I know 
well that this man has already been relieved, 
and I assure you they endeavor to impose 
on us as much as they can.” “What,” said 
the Saint, “do you call it imposing on you 
to receive two alms? I see well that you 
do not know what it is to be poor; hence¬ 
forth dispute no more with them; suffer them 
to impose on you; may it not be that you 
are yourself imposed on, and that this poor 
man, whom you call a deceiver, may be an 
angel that God sends you, to try your charity 
and patience.” 

Amongst those poor whom shame pre¬ 
vented from discovering their distress, he 
caused two hundred ducats to be distributed 
by his almoners every three months, accord¬ 
ing to the necessities of each, besides what 
he gave with his own hands by the help of 
the list which he had of all the necessitous 
persons of every parish. He so arranged 
it that those of one parish came to him one 
week, and those of another, another; so that 
he was able to see them all himself, and give 
them relief every three months; no day in 
the week passing in which he did not in this 
manner see and relieve more than fifteen or 


St Tho 7 nas of Villanova. 273 

twenty persons. He also assisted poor gen¬ 
tlemen who were in difficulties, as well as 
ladies, young and old, and persons who had 
formerly lived in prosperity; giving them such 
liberal assistance as to enable them to live 
comfortably; assigning to this duty the first 
day of every month. Sometimes they came 
to him, as persons unknown, in his chapel, 
and secretly received his help. 

With regard to certain persons whose 
quality would not allow them to come to his 
house, he employed priests or religious, in 
whom he knew he could confide, to dis¬ 
charge so delicate an office. By these means, 
and others like them, which his charity in¬ 
vented, he supported a number of noblemen 
and widows of rank, with so much prudence 
and compassion, that they lived on his charity 
without injuring their reputation or that of 
their families. And if they had daughters 
to marry, he increased his liberality in pro¬ 
portion, in order that by increasing their 
dowry, they might make suitable matches. 
But what was particularly to be admired, was 
the way in which he contrived to help those, 
ladies especially, who endured great misery 
without having the courage to disclose it, 
nor to ask or receive alms. He endeavored 
to h’arn who were their confessors, then sent 
18 


2 74 Thomas of Villaiiova. 

for them, and promising secrecy, exacted the 
same from them, and then learning exactly 
what were the distresses of their penitents, 
he remitted to them a sum of money, strictly 
forbidding the priest to mention the name 
of their benefactor, and only to say that it 
was from one who owed them a certain sum, 
but who not having the means to pay it all 
at once, would do so from time, if he might 
be allow^ed to thus discharge his debt. The 
Saint spoke truly, since, according to his own 
doctrine, bishops make no alms to the poor, 
properly speaking, as they are obliged to 
give them what is justly their due. 

Ingenuity in devising means of doing good 
is the property of true charity when arrived 
at perfection. No one, therefore, will feel 
surprise that our Saint, who possessed this 
virtue in so eminent a degree, should employ 
so many pious devices, and use them so skil¬ 
fully, in his endeavors to benefit the whole 
world. The employment of his own pos¬ 
sessions for the good of the poor did not 
content him, but as if his whole heart and 
thoughts were fixed on this one object, he 
wished that others also should do the same; 
and when any visited him, he endeavored to 
lead them to the like feelings of compassion 
and interest. A citizen of Valentia, named 


275 


S/. Thomas of Villanova. 

Louis Camarene, a charitable and devout 
man, never came to see him without his 
inquiring after the poor of his parish, and 
all his discourse with him tended to recom¬ 
mend them to his care, and to induce him to 
do all in his power to increase the alms that 
had been left by the faithful for their subsist¬ 
ence. On one occasion he gave him advice 
worthy of his prudence and charity. “I as¬ 
sure you,’’ said he, “that I feel much friend¬ 
ship for you, because I see you have so much 
compassion for the poor. For this reason, 
believe me, I counsel you as your friend, to 
dispose of all your property in favor of the 
poor; and to do for them in your lifetime all 
that you had intended to do after your death; 
because God, who can touch the hearts of 
the rich at all times and in all places, to 
supply the wants of the poor, will not de¬ 
mand from you an account of those who are 
to come, but you will be responsible for 
those you see now before you in distress, 
and neglect to relieve them when you have 
the power of doing so.” 

With the same zeal and charity he pro¬ 
vided for the sick, poor girls, and little chil¬ 
dren. When it was known that he took 
charge of foundlings, nursing them, and 
bringing them up at his own expense, there 


276 St, Thomas of Villanova, 

were often three or four of them laid at his 
door during the night; so that sometimes 
he had as many as sixty, seventy, or eighty 
under his care. He was neither displeased 
nor astonished at this, nor did he consider it 
any liberty that they should thus bring them 
to their archbishop. On the contrary, con¬ 
sidering the innocence of these little crea¬ 
tures, and not the guilt of their parents, he 
received them with joy and delight, following 
the example of our Lord. 

Two of his servants once detected a man 
in the act of leaving his child at the arch¬ 
bishop’s garden gate. After some conten¬ 
tion they allowed him to depart, and taking 
the child they brought it to the holy prelate 
who was then at supper. He received it 
into his arms with a cheerful and satisfied 
countenance, inquired if it had been bap¬ 
tized, and gave it his blessing when he found 
it had received holy baptism. Then the ser¬ 
vants informed him that they had seized the 
father before taking charge of the child, and 
that they might have brought him there if 
they had wished. “You did wrong,” said he, 
“to attack the father. What did you sup¬ 
pose I should do to him, if you had con¬ 
ducted him into my presence? Are not 
these poor people miserable enough in their 


kSV. Thomas of Villayiova, 277 

indig'ence, without afflicting them by unne¬ 
cessary disgrace? Never let it occur again.’* 
Then giving the child to bishop Cevrian, who 
was at table with him, he begged him to find 
a nurse for it as soon as possible. “We 
have,” said he, “forty-eight children to pro¬ 
vide for, and now we shall have forty-nine; 
but if we have found means to feed and 
clothe forty-eight, we can surely do the same 
for forty-nine, and more still if it please God 
to send them to us. For I hold it as indu¬ 
bitable, that nothing will ever be wanting to 
us for the support of the poor.” With the 
same goodness he made a point of seeing 
these children from time to time, and or¬ 
dered their nurses to bring them to his house 
every first day of the month. And when 
they were arranged in the hall through which 
he passed to go to say mass, he stopped 
and looked at all the children one after an¬ 
other, making inquiries of their nurses as 
to their state of health, and what care they 
took of them. He reproved the negligent, 
and gave money above their wages to those 
whose children were cleaner and in better 
condition than the others, to induce them all, 
by the hope of reward, faithfully to perform 
their duties. 

In the same manner he took charge of 


278 Thomas of Villanova, 

poor orphans, who by the death of their 
parents were left without money or protec¬ 
tion ; and for this purpose he engaged a 
prudent and aged matron to bring them up 
with every possible care. A poor shoemaker 
and his wife having by their death left three 
little children entirely destitute, the Saint 
sent for them, and placed them with this 
good woman, recommending them especially 
to her tender solicitude. The love and affec¬ 
tion he showed for these little Innocents, so 
won upon their hearts, that as soon as they 
saw him they ran to him as they would have 
done to their own father, which child-like con¬ 
fidence continued till they arrived at a proper 
age, when he placed each of them with mas¬ 
ters to learn some trade suitable to their 
birth. He also educated a great number of 
others, and his love for them all extended 
even beyond the grave ; having said himself 
a short time before his death, that he had 
paid for the nurses and the other expenses 
of the children for three years after his death. 

His almoner was strictly charged to pro¬ 
vide the sick with whatever their several 
disorders required; to give them the best 
meat for soups, preserves, and in short, what¬ 
ever was ordered by the physician whom he 
kept, together with a surgeon and apothecary 


S^. Thomas of Villanova, 279 

for the benefit of the poor. He always 
wished that something in particular should 
be added for those who were afflicted with 
incurable diseases, in order to console them 
and soften the bitterness of their sufferings. 

The interest he took in young* girls who 
were poor, made him extraordinarily liberal 
towards them, assisting them with the utmost 
judgment and charity. So much so, that it 
is said there was not a single marriage 
amongst the poor in Valentia while he was 
archbishop, to which he did not give his con¬ 
tribution according as he judged necessary. 
He had no fixed time or day to exercise this 
kind of charity. At whatever time they 
applied to him, his alms was always ready. 
One condition was, that they should be always 
accompanied by their mothers, that he might 
make himself acquainted with their circum¬ 
stances ; and he never dismissed them with¬ 
out giving them some pious instruction upon 
the duties of their state. He then assigned 
some future day for their return, making use 
of the interim to inform himself, by means 
of his almoner or other discreet persons, of 
the truth of what had been told him. If the 
account proved to be true, he gave them 
sufficient to enable them to marry, and if not, 
ihey received only his ordinary alms, as he 


28 o Thomas of Villanova, 

made it a rule that no necessitous person 
should ever leave his presence empty-handed. 
The money employed in this kind of charity 
amounted to a very considerable sum, there 
being no poor girls who had gained some¬ 
thing in service to whose dowry he did not 
add twenty crowns ; and as for those who 
had nothing, their parents having been obliged 
from some good reason to keep them at 
home, he gave them forty or fifty crowns, 
sometimes even seventy or eighty, according 
to their rank in life. There were generally 
five-and-twenty or thirty every year that he 
thus provided for. Those young girls who 
were commonly thought to be well off, but 
who in reality were not so, received more 
ample donations. To one he gave a hundred 
ducats, to others two or three, or even more, 
according to their state in life, interest never 
being requisite to obtain his help, still less 
that they should exaggerate their wants; for 
his hand was always open, and he was never 
better pleased than when he could anticipate 
their wants by his liberality. A young man 
upon the point of marrying, begged him to 
bestow twenty crowns upon him, to enable 
him to purchase some few articles of furni¬ 
ture ; saying also, that the girl he was about 
to marry was as poor as himself. His re- 


6*/. Thomas of Villanova. 281 

quest was immediately granted, and the Saint 
hearing he was by trade a carpenter, com¬ 
manded his treasurer instead of twenty 
crowns to count out fifty, to give him the 
means of 'buying wood for his work. The 
young man, surprised at the excess of his 
goodness, threw himself at his feet to return 
his humble thanks; but the Saint raising 
him up, said, “My son, return thanks to God 
for this assistance; for what I have given 
you is from His property, not mine,” and 
then dismissed him with his blessing. He 
exercised the same charity towards a poor 
girl without solicitation ; adding thirty crowns 
to what he had before appointed for her, to 
enable her husband to buy materials to carry 
on his trade at the commencement of their 
housekeeping. The same often occurred in 
his liberalities to persons of quality, repeat¬ 
edly adding a hundred crowns, as though 
he thought he had given too little; his un¬ 
limited charity always prompting him to do 
more and more. 


CHAPTER XIL 


CONTINUATION OF THE ACCOUNT OF HIS CHAEITT TOWAEDS THE 
POOE. 

C HIS good prelate’s compassion for the 
poor was so great, that not content with 
assisting them by his immense charities, 
he never felt greater joy than when an 
occasion offered of doing them good, nor did 
he ever feel wearied or importuned by the 
number or frequency of their requests. In 
the church of our Lady of Succors, there 
came one day a man, who, throwing himself 
upon his knees before the tomb of St. 
Thomas shortly after his death, began to sigh 
and shed tears abundantly. The sacristan 
having noticed his deep feeling, asked him 
after the conclusion of his prayer what was 
the cause of his grief. “Father,” said the 
man, “do not be surprised at what you have 
seen. Two things have passed between this 
blessed one and myself, which I can never 
call to mind without feeling the same sorrow 
that I did on the day my good father died. 
The one of them was this. I owed a sum 
of money to a priest. For some time he 
282 




SY, Thomas of Villanova, 283 

had patience with me, and upon my promis¬ 
ing soon to discharge the debt, he refrained 
from arresting me. But at length, wearied 
with my frequent delays, he put an execution 
in my house, so that I was upon the point of 
losing all my furniture. 

“Touched with compassion, one of my 
neighbors advised me to go and complain to 
the archbishop, assuring me that he was too 
good and merciful not to order the priest to 
give me a further respite. I thought I ought 
not to do this, having so long abused his 
patience ; and it seemed to me to be quite 
just he should act as he had done, as I was 
in the wrong for having so often failed to 
keep my word. 

“ Nevertheless, my affairs were so urgent 
and my friends so pressing, one of them even 
offering to accompany me, that I consented 
to go. The good archbishop received us 
very affably, and inquired at once how he 
could serve us. I told him the state of my 
affairs, and that I owed the priest seven 
crowns. ‘Seven crowns,’ said he, ‘it is a 
considerable sum for this priest to lose; no 
doubt he stands as much in need of it as you 
do.’ Then calling his steward, he ordered 
him to give me seven crowns to pay my 
debt, saying to me, ‘Go quickly and satisfy 


284 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

your creditor, for from his acting in this 
manner, I judge that he suffers no less than 
yourself.’ This was not all. After having 
received this gift from his hands, I fell into 
another difficulty, which obliged me again to 
have recourse to his charity, without which 
I should never have recovered. I was op¬ 
pressed with debts on every side, and desti¬ 
tute of means to discharge them, unless I 
sold the house which I held of the archbishop. 
I was solicited by my creditors themselves, 
to demand of the archbishop some diminution 
of his right to the fine of alienation; but I 
had not the boldness to present myself before 
him, feeling it would be a kind of temerity to 
do so. However, my notary, who knew the 
Saint better than myself, managed so well 
that he took me there himself. He recog¬ 
nized me immediately, and spoke with so 
much familiarity and kindness that I opened 
my whole heart to him, explaining all my 
necessities and miseries, and asked pardon 
if I was so importunate as to beg him, after 
the favor he had shown me, to release me 
from a part of the fine of alienation that I 
owed him for my house; the extremity to 
which I was reduced constraining me to act 
in this manner. The word ‘importunate’ 
displeased him. ‘ My child,’ said he, ‘ do not 


6'/. Thomas of Villanova, 285 

speak thus. I look upon no one as importu¬ 
nate, whoever he may be, who comes to me 
in his hour of need. Do you not know that 
I am in this place for the very purpose of 
hearing yx)ur distresses, and of relieving them 
to the utmost of my power?’ He then 
inquired what the fine of alienation was, and 
having learned, that if he withdrew his claims 
in my favor, the money would not fall into 
my hands, seeing it was a part of the price 
of my house, he refused my request and 
granted it in another manner. He caused 
what was due to him to be taken from his 
own funds and laid on the table, and then 
turning to the notary, asked him if this money 
did not belong to him, and, if he could not 
dispose of it as he pleased. He was an¬ 
swered that he certainly could do so. ‘ Take 
it then,’ said he to me; H give it to you. 
And you, notary, I declare in your presence 
that I give it to him, so that I intend he 
should not be deprived of it under any claim 
of debt whatever; for in that case I should 
only do the same again. Go, then, my child, 
make use of this little sum, and henceforth 
do not fear to be importunate, whenever you 
stand in need of my assistance.’ ” He did 
a charitable act of the same nature to a poor 
artisan, whom his creditors obliged to sell 


286 S^. Tho^nas of Villanova, 

his house. To prevent them reaping the 
benefit of his alms, he himself brought what 
was due to him in right of the fine of aliena¬ 
tion, and freely giving it to him said, ‘ Take 
this, my friend, it is not mine, it belongs to 
the poor.’ ” 

The sacristan of our Lady of Succors, 
Father John Rezier, one day found a certain 
woman praying before the tomb of the Saint, 
and seeing her weep so bitterly, asked her 
the reason of her tears and grief. “Father,” 
said she, “ it is not easy for those who knew 
the charity of this blessed archbishop, and 
who like myself have felt the effects of it, to 
behold his tomb wdth a dry eye. I will relate 
to you what some years before his death, a 
lady of rank in this city told me regarding 
him. She had disposed of all the best of her 
property in order to support herself, and in 
the last necessity to which she was reduced, 
without daring to discover it, she begged me, 
knowing I had the entry of the archbishop’s 
house, to represent to him her extreme dis¬ 
tress, and to beg him to have pity on her, 
without, how^ever, mentioning in what way 
she wished to be assisted. I went to seek 
him, and mentioned to him the poverty of 
this poor lady. Immediately, without ques¬ 
tioning me as to where and how I became 


S^. Tho 7 nas of Villanova, 287 

acquainted with her, or who she was, he gave 
me a very considerable sum for her use. 
‘ Carry that to her now,’ said he, ‘ and return 
to me whenever she wants the like assistance, 
without any fear of being troublesome to me. 
Tell her to love solitude, and to take great 
care to serve God, and as to myself, I pro¬ 
mise you, I will not fail to help her according 
to the power that God gives me.’ ” 

Time would fail me to relate innumerable 
other instances of the charity of this holy 
archbishop, who, besides his ordinary alms, 
was accustomed, like the patriarch Abraham, 
to stand at the entrance of his house, to 
invite passengers to enter, that he might 
exercise the virtue of hospitality. In going 
to and returning from mass it was his prac¬ 
tice to remain for some time in his hall, to 
see and listen to the poor; the mercy he 
showed them at those hours making a part 
of his preparation and thanksgivings before 
and after the holy sacrifice. 

This great servant of God and true father 
of the poor, often said that alms consisted 
less in giving, than in relieving those who 
were suffering; adding that the Christian 
who has the power of delivering his neighbor 
from unhappiness or misery of any kind, and 
forbears to do it, is unworthy of the name 


288 Sf. Thomas of Villanova, 

of almoner. It was this principle which 
made him so often do more than he was 
asked, always presuming that he had not 
done enough. 

Having heard that the widow of a poor 
artisan, who had several little children, had 
much difficulty in bringing them up, and 
endured many hardships, he allowed her a 
sum of money every month. But finding, in 
spite of this help, that she often experienced 
scarcity, he asked her if she was able to do 
anything to assist herself, and by that means 
support herself and her children more com¬ 
fortably. She answered that she knew how 
to prepare peeled barley; upon which he 
ordered them to provide her with grain and 
whatever else was necessary for the employ¬ 
ment, so that by means of her labor, and his 
continued assistance, she by degrees recov¬ 
ered from the pitiable state to which she had 
been reduced. Poor artisans were often in¬ 
debted to him for buying them the tools and 
instruments necessary to carry on their trade; 
and sometimes he would add a sum of money 
to encourage them to proceed cheerfully in 
their labors. 

A gentleman of Valentia, to whom the 
Saint allowed fifteen crowns a month for the 
support of his family, finding himself at one 


289 


►S'/. Thomas of Villanova, 

time sadly pressed by some affair which had 
happened most inopportunely, thought of 
having recourse to his kind benefactor. But 
being in constant receipt of his bounty, he 
felt afraid* and ashamed to go to him, but 
went in the night to one of his almoners^ 
begging him to represent his distress to the 
good archbishop. He did so, ^nd the Saint, 
far from being displeased at his request, was 
touched with compassion. ‘"See,” said he, 
“ to what a pitch of distress this poor gentle¬ 
man must have arrived, since in addition to 
the fifteen crowns he regularly receives, 
he comes at this time of the night to beg 
for more. Let him instantly have twenty 
crowns.” Then a moment after, calling to 
his almoner, he said, “ Count me out forty, 
for my heart tells me that it would not be for 
a trifling distress he would come here at such 
an hour. Endeavor to comfort him, and tell 
him from me to trust in God.” It was not 
only this or that person who excited his pity 
or compassion, but as our heavenly Father 
makes His sun to shine on the evil and on 
the good, on the just and on the unjust, so 
did he in like manner bestow his alms upon 
people who deserved it for their virtues, and 
others also, who by their bad conduct were 
unworthy of it. He relieved these last from 


2go S/, Thomas of Villanova, 

the fear that by withholding his benefits they 
might become hardened in wickedness and 
rush forward to their eternal ruin. 

One day he was informed that another 
gentleman to whom he gave fifteen crowns 
a month (which was his usual alms for 
nobles), made a bad use of it, and that in¬ 
stead of employing it in maintaining his 
household, he sometimes spent it in gaming. 
The archbishop was urged to withhold, or 
at leas 4 : to retrench that liberality which was 
so much abused, to teach him wisdom for 
the future. “No, please God,” replied the 
good prelate, “for if he does one wrong 
thing with the money I give him, he might 
perhaps do two if I took it away from him.” 
However, though he defended the accused 
in his absence, he reproved him severely in 
private, threatening him to give him nothing 
more, if he did not change his life ; and cor¬ 
rected him’ so judiciously that henceforth no 
one complained of his conduct. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


SEQUEL OF THE SAME SUBJECT. 


f 


DOUBT not that what has been said 
above of the charities and bounties of 
St. Thomas of Villanova, will astonish 
those who regard them only with the 
eyes of the flesh, seeing that they greatly ex¬ 
ceeded his revenues. Human prudence is not 
able to conceive how he who has but twenty 
thousand crowns can give away fifty and 
sixty thousand. But those who know the 
virtue of almsgiving, and how commonly our 
Blessed Lord multiplies alms in the hands 
of His almoners, enabling them with five 
loaves to feed thousands of persons, and 
who also know what the industry of a good 
father of a family can accomplish who does 
all he can to increase his store by good 
management, taking care that there are no 
superfluous expenses in his house, will not 
be astonished at those prodigies of charity 
which this blessed prelate performed by 
means of his holy and praiseworthy economy. 
Divine Providence, who had created him 

291 




292 6V. Thomas of Villanova, 

for the poor, multiplied alms in his hands 
almost with a glance of his eye, whilst on his 
part he spared no trouble to make much of 
little, in order to assist them as much as pos¬ 
sible. Meeting one day with his caterer, 
who had just bought him a lamprey, he 
stopped him and inquired what it had cost. 
“Forty pence,” was the reply. “Forty 
pence!” exclaimed the Saint, “ God would 
not be pleased at my eating what cost so 
much. What! a fish of forty pence to dine 
a religious! go, go, take it back immediately. 
The purveyor of some person of quality will 
be glad to have it at the price you have 
given for it.” The man replied that he was 
the archbishop and not a religious, and that 
this fish was but a trifle for the dinner of an 
archbishop. “ My friend,” replied he, “ it is 
true that I am the archbishop, but it does 
not please me to hear you say I am not a 
religious. Besides, how often have I told 
you and all those of my household, that*we 
bishops are no less obliged to consider the 
interests of the poor in all we do, than are 
fathers of families obliged to consider those 
of their children. 

At another time wishing to have an old 
habit repaired, he sent for a tailor, and asked 
him what would be the expense, as he wished 



293 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 

to make an agreement with him before his 
undertaking it. The tailor said he could 
make no charge for the work, as well from 
respect for the archbishop, as because of its 
trifling nature, but would leave it for the 
archbishop to give him what he thought 
proper. Upon being pressed to name a 
sum, he said, “ My loi d, you will then give 
me, if you please, so much.” But the Saint, 
thinking he asked too much, made him agree 
to receive less, telling him he would pay 
what was reasonable, but no more. The 
tailor reluctantly acquiesced, and went away 
murmuring and scandalized, attributing the 
archbishop’s carefulness to meanness and 
avarice. The good prelate clearly perceived 
his dissatisfaction, but took no notice of it, 
not being troubled at his rash judgment, his 
desire of sparing for the poor making him 
despise what any one could either say or 
think, provided there was no fault on his 
part, and that God might not be displeased 
with him. He always trusted that our Lord, 
who knew the purity of his intentions, which 
aimed oniy at his glory and the good of his 
neighbor, would know how to defend his 
cause in proper time and place against the 
censures of men, as he did truly in the case 
of this man. This tailor was a poor man, 


294 Thomas of Villanova. 

who had three daughters, all marriageable, 
but who remained at home because he had 
not the means of giving them a marriage 
portion. The parish priest of St. Catherine, 
who knew their circumstances, advised him 
to go to the archbishop; and though he could 
not at first resolve to do' so, looking upon 
him as an avaricious person, yet the priest 
at last persuaded him to go, and he ingenu¬ 
ously discovered to the kind prelate the mis¬ 
erable conjuncture in which he found his 
affairs. The Saint knew him at once, list¬ 
ened to him benignly, asked him his name 
and that of his daughters, and then took 
leave of him, charging him to return the next 
day, and to bring his confessor with him. 
“Go,” said he, “and recommend yourself 
and your daughters to the protection of God, 
and beg of Him to be favorable to you.” 
Having afterwards learned the truth from 
the confessor, whom he summoned immedi¬ 
ately, to inquire about these poor girls, and 
the advantageous occasion which offered of 
settling them, “What dowry do you think 
they will require ?” asked he. The priest 
having replied that he thought thirty crowns 
apiece would be quite sufficient, he willingly 
gave it them, and the tailor was to receive 
it the next day, and to return thanks for his 




295 


67. Thomas of Villajiova, 

bounty. When he arrived, the Saint accosted 
him thus: “I promised your confessor yester- 
day to give each of your daughters thirty 
crowns, but as I have since thought it was 
too little, I tvdll give them fifty, that they 
may have wherewith to buy furniture, and 
anything else they may want to begin house¬ 
keeping.” The poor man was quite over¬ 
come by such great goodness and mercy, 
and threw himself upon his knees to kiss 
his benefactor’s feet, weeping with mingled 
joy and confusion, but the servant of God 
raised him up, “Are you not,” said he, “the 
tailor who mended my habit a short time 
since ? yes, without doubt you are the man. 
I remember you were offended, and thought 
I dealt hardly with you ; you ought not to 
have been displeased, because I did you no 
injury, and wished to pay the just value of 
your work, and if I was not disposed to pay 
you more, it was not covetousness which 
influenced me, since the only use I can make 
of money is to assist the poor, as you now 
experience in your own case.” This chari¬ 
table action the Saint desired to keep secret, 
but the gratitude of the poor tailor compelled 
him to publish it wherever he went, and to 
eulogize his great bounty and munificence. 

I will relate another incident no less strik- 


296 S^. Thomas of Villanova. 

ing. A certain artisan with whom the arch¬ 
bishop was not agreed about the payment 
of some money, left his house very dissatis¬ 
fied, and likewise suspected him of avarice. 
However, necessity obliged him shortly after¬ 
wards to have recourse to the good prelate, 
to obtain something for his daughter’s mar¬ 
riage. The Saint granted him sixty crowns 
immediately ; and when his steward, who was 
present, and who knew what had formerly 
passed between them, said to him, “ My lord, 
some time ago you treated this man very 
differently to what you do nowhe said, 
*‘The expense I then incurred was for my¬ 
self, and this is a matter of charity. Then 
it was my own property, or at least that 
which I am allowed for my own use, this is 
the money of the poor. As I ask for nothing 
but what is absolutely necessary for my sup¬ 
port, you will not be surprised if I am so 
careful in what regards myself, and if my 
expenses go beyond what is simply neces¬ 
sary, that I am so distressed. But in what 
regards the poor, why should I grudge what 
is given to them ? since it is their own that 
they receive, and I am obliged to assist them, 
to the utmost of my power.” 

Some friends once persuaded him to make 
a lofty hall in his palace, telling him it would 


kS/. Thomas of Villariova, 297 

be a very great convenience and would cost 
little. He consented ; but finding it a wofk 
of time, and that the expense far exceeded 
what he had been given to understand, he 
grieved so much as to be almost inconsolable. 
One of his canons, named Ribeglies, wishing 
to speak to him on business, found him walk¬ 
ing alone in the hall with the rosary in his 
hand and his face bathed in tears; and 
imagining that some misfortune had befallen 
him, begged to know what was the matter. 
“ Have I not reason. Sir, to weep and mourn,’' 
replied he, “ at having deprived the poor of 
so much money by this expense I have 
entered into ? What can I say to my God 
when he calls me to an account for this ?’' 
This wonderful care of the poor was the cause 
of his wearing his clothes in so shabby a 
state, having them so often repieced, and 
frequently even repiecing them with his own 
hands. One of his vicars, named James 
Cevrian, having once found him in his cham¬ 
ber mending his stockings, was so surprised 
that he exclaimed, “ My Lord, for eight or 
ten pence you might get this work done 
without giving yourself so much trouble.” 
“ My child, you know not what you say,” 
replied he, “ for I find the greatest consolation 
and joy in this occupation, considering that 


298 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

these eight or ten pence which I save by this 
trifling work will be very useful to some 
poor man.” Another time, as all the doors 
of his house were open during the day, there 
entered a poor man with the design of beg¬ 
ging something to help him to marry his 
daughter, but having watched him from afar 
mending his clothes, he conceived a contempt 
for him; and thinking he was mistaken in 
his intention of applying to him for relief, he 
was about to return without a word, when 
the Saint, who had noticed him, called to him 
to inquire the object of his coming there, and 
why he was going away without speaking to 
any one. “ Do not be afraid,” said he, “ to 
tell me boldly what it is which has discouraged 
you here.” “ My Lord,” replied the man, 
I have a daughter to marry, and I have 
nothing to give her, if your lordship does not 
take pity on her and me.” “ Then,” replied 
the Saint, “ you saw me mending my clothes, 
and you were going away without making 
your wishes known to me. This was not 
well. You must know that the very reason 
for my thus working with my own hands, is 
that I may save all that I can to give you, 
and all those who come to me in their sorrows 
as to their Father.” After having, according 
to his usual custom, informed himself of the 


Sf, TJiovias of Villanova, 


299 


character and circumstances of this poor man, 
he assisted him and his, as he had requested. 

But to understand the pain and anxiety 
of mind he suffered when he had been induced 
to spend money upon any other object than 
the poor in his diocese, it will suffice to relate 
the motives which led him to found a colleee 
for a certain number of poor scholars in the 
university of Valentia. The affection he bore 
to the university of Alcala, joined to the 
desire he had of doing something for the good 
of the religious of his Order, induced him to 
begin building a college, of which he gave 
them the administration. This was in itself a 
pious and praiseworthy action, which could not 
be anything but laudable in the sight of God 
and man ; it being a thing so just and natural 
in a religious raised to the prelacy, to remem¬ 
ber hisOrder and his brethren when he could 
do so. Nevertheless he so much regretted 
the expense of this edifice, because it was 
beyond his jurisdiction, that thinking he had 
done a wrong to the poor of his diocese, he 
resolved to repair it in some fashion by build¬ 
ing them another college at Valentia, where 
he placed some priests, and gave it the name 
of our Lady of the Temple, in honor and con¬ 
sideration of the favor God had done him in 
calling him to religion on the day that the 


300 S^. Ihornas of Villanova, 

Blessed Virgin was presented in the Temple, 
and to show all religious, and especially 
those whom Divine Providence had raised 
to ecclesiastical dignities, how they should 
esteem their first vocation. 

It is proper here to mention the inscription 
the good prelate had placed on the front of 
this college, at the time he dedicated it to 
our Lady. “To the honor and glory of the 
Blessed Virgin, and for the good and profit 
of all souls, but particularly those of this 
diocese ; I, brother Thomas of Villanova, by 
the grace of God and the holy see, arch¬ 
bishop of Valentia, have built and founded 
in this city of Valentia, a college for poor 
scholars, under the title of the most Blessed 
Virgin Mary of the Temple, inasmuch as on 
the same day that she was presented in the 
Temple, I was presented to receive the habit 
of our glorious Father St. Augustine, in 
the convent of Salamanca. And in memory 
of this signal benefit which I received from 
the liberal hand of our Lord, through the 
intercession of His Holy Mother, I have 
dedicated this temple to the most sacred 
Virgin, and I wish that every year the day 
of her Presentation may be solemnly cele¬ 
brated as a festival in the chapel of this 
college.’' 

O 


301 


SL Thomas of Villanova, 

The same feeling which led him to form 
this college under the name of the Blessed 
Virgin, induced him also to ornament and 
embellish his church with very rich and ex¬ 
quisite hangings of tapestry which he pre¬ 
sented to the Cathedral, whereon the joyful 
mysteries of this Queen of Angels are ad¬ 
mirably represented in silk; the beauty of 
the material being surpassed by the skill 
employed in the workmanship, so as almost 
to exceed nature. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

OF THE MIRACLES WROUGHT BY OUR LORD IH THE DISTRIBUTIOJT 
OF ALMS BY ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 


C HE Holy Spirit speaking of a rich man 
who has no attachment to riches, who 
values them as they deserve, and who 
while possessing them uses them as not 
his own, designates him as one who works 
miracles. “ Blessed is he who is rich, and 
can preserve the innocence of his heart in 
the possession of riches. But who is he, and 
where is he to be found? Wherever he is, 






302 6V. TJi 077 tas of Villaitova. 

he deserves to be praised and to be canonized 
as one who does what is beyond the power 
and strength of nature.’' It is Christians to 
whom God has entrusted temporal goods, 
that the Holy Spirit speaks of thus. They 
who by the rays of faith with which they are 
enlightened, use their wealth only as a means 
of acquiring virtue ; not in fomenting vice, 
and encouraging themselves in every degra¬ 
ding crime. To raise the dead, to give sight 
to the blind, and to cast out devils, are super¬ 
natural works, and pure and simple effects 
of the goodness of God; yet without doubt 
our Lord sometimes employs the wicked and 
impious in performing these miracles. But 
to live poor, and like a poor man in the midst 
of the greatest abundance ; to possess riches 
of gold and silver, and yet to regard only 
those of eternity; this is what can never be 
done, and is never seen without especial 
assistance from heaven, and a more particular 
grace from the Divine Goodness; so that it 
is a more solid and certain pledge of a man’s 
holiness than if he could resuscitate the dead 
and work other miracles. 

After what has been said of the wonder¬ 
ful detachment of our saintly prelate from 
earthly riches, and of the use he made of 
them, which the Holy Spirit calls so great a 


SL Thomas of Villaiiova, 303 

miracle, it would seem scarcely necessary, in 
order to make his sanctity acknowledged by 
all, to mention those more striking and ob¬ 
vious miracles which our Lord enabled him 
to work." The multiplication of his revenue 
which never amounted to a third part of 
what he annually distributed to the poor, was 
a continual miracle, and would seem suffi¬ 
cient to be mentioned; yet there are so many 
individual cases well known and well attest¬ 
ed, that to pass them by unnoticed would be 
injurious to this history, and deprive the 
reader of knowledge which he will not find 
useless. For these reasons, then, I will re¬ 
late some of the most remarkable instances 
on record. 

The holy archbishop, whose principal con¬ 
cern was always the care of the poor, fore¬ 
seeing one year shortly after harvest that 
there would be much suffering amongst 
them, on account of the poor crops, provided 
for it in time, and like a good father, to 
anticipate the evil, bought up from the farm¬ 
ers all the corn they could spare, for a price 
which paid them so well they found no reason 
to complain. He ordered all the corn he 
had bought to be carried to the environs of 
Valentia, and for the more distant parishes 
he caused some to be distributed here and 


304 St, Thomas of Villanova. 

there in portions ready for the relief of the 
poor, of which he knew the number and the 
necessities. The granaries of his house, and 
even the hall, of which I have spoken before, 
were filled with the grain he had bought, and 
he ordered his steward to deliver a certain 
quantity every week to all the poor of the 
town, as also to those other needy persons 
whom he relieved secretly every month. 
His charity, which in this public distress had 
ample scope for exercise, had its eye upon 
all and provided for all, like another Joseph. 
Now as it was extremely difficult to conceal 
charity so general and extensive, several per¬ 
sons who until now had lived without assist¬ 
ance, but whom the times had brought to 
poverty, came to him likewise to implore his 
mercy. Amongst others there came three 
poor widows, who for a long time had lived 
very comfortably, and in the reputation of 
being rich and at their ease. But at length 
they were reduced to such distress, that 
they could no longer subsist without making 
it known, and threw themselves at the feet 
of this charitable father, entreating him to 
have compassion on them and their poor 
children, and that he would be pleased to 
give them a small portion of corn, as he did 
to others. He immediately commanded they 


Thomas of Villanova. 305 

should be satisfied, upon which his steward 
told him they had finished distributing all the 
corn which was in the house destined for the 
poor, which was not astonishing, seeing the 
great number who begged for it at every 
hour of the day, it being a thing impossible 
that it should'last so long as he thought. 

The good prelate was greatly surprised at 
the answer of his steward. “No,” said he, 
“I cannot think it is as you say; go up 
and see if there does not remain a little to 
give these poor women.” His servants went 
merely to satisfy him, and returned assuring 
him that it was all gone, and that the place 
even had been swept. “It is not possible,” 
he still said; “I will go myself and see if it is 
so.” He went, followed by his servants and 
steward. “Open the door,” said he, “I have 
so much confidence in the goodness of God 
as to believe He will have pity on these poor 
women.” The door was opened, and the 
granary found to be filled with corn, not 
without great astonishment on the part of 
the steward and the two servants, who were 
bewildered and almost terrified at the sight 
of so evident a miracle that God had wrought 
by the merits and in recompense of the faith 
of this charitable father. He caused a sack 
of corn to be given to each of these poor 


3 o6 S^. Thomas of Villanova. 

widows, and relieved the one who had nine 
children of three of her little ones, taking 
the charge of them himself. He endeavored 
to comfort them all, and exhorted them to 
patience in their labors, and never to distrust 
Divine Providence. He recommended se¬ 
crecy to all those who had seen this wonder¬ 
ful miracle; he even forbade them, in the 
name and on the part of our Lord, to say 
anything of it to any one. For some time 
the miracle was kept secret, even in Valen- 
tia, but in course of time a confused account 
of it was spread abroad, and at length it 
became public and known to every one. 
Those who were the witnesses of it made 
juridical depositions, and his confessor. Fa¬ 
ther James Montiel, attested it; and the au¬ 
thor, whose history I follow, preached soon 
afterwards on the subject, from the miracle 
of the five loaves and two fishes, (it being 
the fourth Sunday of Lent,) with which the 
Son of God satisfied thousands of persons, 
to show how the mercy of God appears in 
multiplying alms, when it pleases Him, in 
favor of the poor. 

It often happened that the cloth he bought 
for the poor multiplied in the hands of the 
persons engaged in making it up, so that in 
cutting it out, more shirts and sheets were 


Thomas of Villariova, 307 

found, by a very considerable number, than 
the cloth could possibly furnish, humanly 
speaking. Sometimes the linen was multi¬ 
plied in the giving, it having often been seen 
by those - who distributed it, that the poor 
received more than they had intended to give 
them. This miraculous multiplication was 
not confined to corn and linen, with which 
he fed and clothed the poor; his money also 
increased almost visibly in the distribution of 
his alms. As he was once journeying in the 
country, he commanded one of his servants, 
who was entrusted with a bag of money, to 
draw from it a certain sum that he wished 
to distribute among several poor people that 
he saw before him. “My Lord,” said he, 
“there is not much remaining; it has lasted 
a long time, considering how largely you 
give every hour of the day.” The servant, 
going to his mail to take the bag, which he 
knew had been more than half emptied, 
found it as full of money as when he received 
it on leaving Valentia. This prodigy so 
astonished him that he threw himself at the 
feet of the Saint, recognizing in his person 
the power of Him who had just wrought 
this miracle by his merits. 

To conclude the account of this kind of 
miracles I will mention one more which is 



3 o8 SL Thomas of Villanova. 

no less admirable. The good prelate was 
accustomed to send Bishop Cevrian^and Dr. 
de la Porte, his visitor, to make the visitation 
of his diocese every year. That their efforts 
and labors might be more effectual and less 
interested, he forbade them to take anything 
whatever from the clergy, not even a repast, 
amply providing them with all that was re¬ 
quired, that they might not be a charge to 
any one. Knowing also how much more 
efficacious spiritual charity is when accom¬ 
panied by temporal, he caused them to be 
followed by a quantity of serge, linen, and 
clothes of all kinds, with a very considerable 
sum of money, to be^ distributed amongst the 
country poor, furnishing them even with 
crosses, chalices, and ornaments for the 
churches which had none, and which had not 
the means of procuring them. Upon their 
departure he exhorted them to carry their 
hearts and hands open, to give with joy and 
alacrity, and especially to new converts, to 
make them understand it was their souls, 
not their goods that they sought, and to 
remember that God is never sparing in 
His gifts to those who are liberal to Him. 
Our Lord, willing to show ho.v agreeable 
such service is to Him, permitted the two 
visitors, after having finished their visit at a 


Si, Thomas of Villanova, 309 

place called Xavea, to go on to another. 
They were no sooner arrived there, than Dr. 
de la Porte, thinking to take some money 
from his portmanteau to begin his almsgiv¬ 
ing, was \vonderfully surprised and distressed 
at not finding there the bag for the poor. 
He ransacked and turned over all his goods, 
but could find only the money for their own 
expenses, and not that for alms. 

He wrote to the curate of Xavea, and dis¬ 
patched a man in the night, praying him to 
see the landlord where they had lodged, but 
this proved to be useless; the man returned 
in the morning with the answer from the 
curate, that nothing could be found in the inn. 
Being in the greatest affliction at the loss, 
they went to say mass with all the devotion 
possible, to recommend this affair to our 
Lord as His own. He heard their prayers. 
For being returned to the inn, and on the 
point of using the money allotted for their 
expenses to relieve the poor who had hast¬ 
ened to see them, resolving to borrow 
money on the promise of the prelate, with 
which they were furnished in writing, at the 
first place they could, what was their surprise 
and astonishment when they went to take 
the bag, to find there the one appropriated 
to the poor. What increased their joy and 


310 SL Thomas of Villaaova. 

astonishment was, they not only recovered 
all the money they had left, but also what 
they had taken from it to give away, the bag 
being so full that it seemed to have been 
squeezed and pressed to make it hold more. 
On their return to Valentia they related this 
incident to the Saint; but he, without show¬ 
ing any surprise, said, smiling, that the same 
thing had often happened to him in alms¬ 
giving, our Lord multiplying money in favor 
of the poor, when after having done all that 
he could, there still remained many to be 
relieved. “ Have then faith,” said he, “ en¬ 
large you heart when you give to the poor, 
without fear of falling into want, because we 
have in heaven a great Master, and a most 
liberal Father of the poor, who will never 
fail to furnish us with something to give 
them if we trust in Him, and treat them 
liberally, after His example.” 

When he had land that he wished to let 
out to farm, though he put it up to a public 
auction, where every one was at liberty to 
name any sum he pleased, he was still de¬ 
sirous it should not fetch a price above its 
value and the strict rule of equity. Hearing 
one day that two merchants piqued them¬ 
selves on being the highest bidders for some 
of his land, and of having raised the price 


Thomas of Villanova, 311 

of it to their own disadvantage, he sent to 
tell them to put a stop to it. When any loss 
happened to any of his farmers, he never 
expected them to make it good, but always 
requited them for it, though in justice he 
was not called upon to do so. Sometimes 
to prevent their deceiving him and abusing 
his goodness, he ascertained the truth of the 
facts. It once happened that a certain cava¬ 
lier of Alzira, who had rented his tithes of 
the same land of Alzira, not having the 
means of paying at the time fixed, from some 
misfortune which had befallen him, permitted 
himself to be summoned by the archbishop’s 
officers, which also caused some expense, as 
he did not answer the summons. At leneth, 
finding himself pressed on all sides, and not 
knowing how to hide himself from the threat¬ 
ened storm, he was obliged to have recourse 
to the compassion of the good prelate, not 
having the courage to disclose his distress 
before, for fear of losing the high character 
he had acquired of being a good paymaster. 
He then came humbly to represent to him 
the sad state of his affairs, begging him to 
order that a stop should be put to his pursuit, 
promising him that he would acquit himself 
of the debt if he would be pleased to grant 
him a short delay. “Take care,” replied the 


312 Thomas of Villanova, 

Saint, that what you say is true, for I shall 
make inquiries about it.” Having ascertained 
that what this poor cavalier had told him was 
perfectly true, he sent for him and said, 
“ God forgive you ; why did you not have 
recourse to me when first this debt was 
demanded of you, and tell me how you were 
inconvenienced ? However, be not troubled. 
I not only grant you the time you ask, which 
is little, but I declare that I will not take a 
single penny from the farm. I release you 
from payment for the whole year, because I 
see that you are poor, and in that capacity I 
have no claim upon you. The money I 
now give you is not mine, it belongs to 
the poor.” 


CHAPTER XV. 


op THE DEATH OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLAHOVA. 


f T. THOMAS passed eleven years thus 
in the exercise of every virtue, with all 
possible zeal and affection, laboring to 
procure the glory of God, the reform 
of His Church, the salvation of souls, and the 
relief of the poor, until the year 1555, which 
Divine Providence had fixed upon as that 
which should end his labors, and recompense 
his merits, and put him in the possession of 
a happiness which, as he said, in an appari¬ 
tion which is well authenticated, “ the whole 
world could neither understand nor be able 
to bestow.” The death of a saint and of a 
great and good man is generally looked upon 
by his country as the presage of some 
approaching calamity; and as a laborer who 
sees the air become thick and dark hastens 
to gather in his corn, to shelter it from the 
threatened tempest, so our Blessed Lord, 
who watches over His elect, draws them to 
Himself from among those He is about to 
chastise for their crimes, that the innocent 

3^3 


314 T^wmas of ] lUanjia, 

may not share the punishment of die guilt\% 
calling' them by His pure mercy from this 
mortal and perishable life to that of an ever 
blessed etemit\\ It is this which makes wise 
men, who are aware of what d.e public lose 
by the death of a saint regret and deplore 
it as Elisha mourned the carrying up into 
heaven of the holy prophet Elijah, because 
of the fatal consequences they foresee will 
ensue. By his departure they find themselves 
deprived of the blessing of his presence, 
which served them as a shield and buckler 
to defend and protect them against the arrows 
of Divine vengeance jusdy exdted. 

The death of a friend of God is, then, a 
sign of some great scourge from heaven to 
plinish the sins of men. Such was that of 
our holy archbishop of the town and kingdom 
of Valentia, since havdng died in the end of 
the year 1555, his diocese was nearl}’ perish¬ 
ing from a famine in 1556, which wis the 
forerunner of a horrible pestilence that caused 
such ravages the following years of 1557 and 
1558, that there scarcely remained any among 
the livring to bury the dead. 

On the 29th of August he fell sick of a 
quinsy, brought on by his continual watch¬ 
ings and study, accompanied by a pain in the 
chest, which began to trouble him as soon as 



S/, Thomas of Villanoroa, 315 

he became archbishop, from the little repose 
he allowed himself. For, to satisfy himself 
in the discharge of his duty, which occupied 
him nearly all the day, and to keep up his - 
practice of mental prayer, and his other spirit¬ 
ual exercises, he was constrained to employ 
the greater part of the night, and to deprive 
himself of necessar}* sleep. He had said 
mass the day before with very great devotion 
to Sl Augustine, whose feast it was, having 
always borne a singular respect to the name 
and memor)" of that illustrious father, it ever 
being his glor}* and delight to remember he 
w'as one of his children. The weakness 
which suddenly seized him after saying his 
office, made him know that the time of his 
departure was approaching; and he could 
not refrain from showing the joy this anti¬ 
cipation gave him, as if he had received 
some special favor from the hand of Almighty 
God. Then judging by the fever, which 
increased, that he should not rally, he made 
a general confession, placing himself in the 
hands of our Blessed Redeemer, entreating 
Him, with the most humble and entire re¬ 
signation, to dispose of his life and death 
according to His good pleasure. 

The Monday following, which was the 2d 
of September, he earnestly desired to receive 


316 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

the blessed Sacrament, which was solemnly 
brought him in procession for the example 
and edification of the people. The blessed 
Sacrament was also exposed in all the 
churches, with the forty hours prayer, in 
which every one joined for the benefit of 
their good bishop, and communicated with a 
more than common devotion from the hands 
of bishop Cevrian. The canons, religious, 
the greater part of his clergy, and as many 
persons as could enter his chamber, were 
bathed in tears, fearing they were going to 
lose their dear father and pastor, whom they 
so loved, and by whom their affection was so 
tenderly returned. On the Thursday, three 
days before the Nativity of the Blessed 
Virgin, the physicians having pronounced 
him to be slightly amended, all the city, fluc¬ 
tuating between fear and hope, breathed 
freely once more at this happy news. How¬ 
ever, as the Saint felt himself more oppressed 
than he had yet done, and as it is also very 
possible that our Lord then revealed to him 
the hour of his death, which it is certain He 
did before it arrived, he caused five thousand 
ducats which he kept in the sacristy of the 
cupola, to be brought to him, and placed 
them in the hands of bishop Cevrian, of the 
canon Michael Vigue, of Father Peter of 


S^. Thofjias of Villanova, 317 

Salamanca, religious of the order of St. 
Dominic, and of his almoner and treasurer. 
“You know the affection you ought to have 
for me,” said he, “and I doubt not that you 
will willingly do me a good service. Here 
is an occasion which presents itself. Do me 
the favor to go over all the parishes of the 
city on every side, and distribute all this 
money to the poor, each one according to 
his wants. Have care also for the persons 
of quality who are in distress. But I entreat 
you, in the name of God, do not bring a single 
penny back into my house, for that would 
grieve me. If you cannot dispose of all to¬ 
day, finish to-morrow.” They employed the 
whole of the next two days in seeing and 
visiting all the poor families they could find, 
giving large alms to those who were in debt, 
or to those who had daughters,—to some a 
hundred ducats, to others fifty or sixty, and 
to none less than four ducats. 

These two days were not sufficient to 
empty their purse. The Saint inquired on 
their return if all had been disposed of; and 
on their answering that they had still twelve 
hundred ducats, though they had relieved all 
the poor in Valentia that they could discover, 
he exclaimed with great feeling, “ O, misera¬ 
ble sinner that I am, must this money remain 


3 i8 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

this night in my house ! go seek some other 
poor, though it is la.te, and if you cannot 
succeed, carry it to the hospital. Do me 
this favor I beseech you.” They told him 
that what remained would be very serviceable 
in paying the nurses, and for the support of 
the poor orphans who would be in danger 
of suffering much, in case it should please 
God to call him to Himself. “I have pro¬ 
vided for them for three years,” replied he, 
“ so pray, gentlemen, give me this consolation, 
and go immediately and distribute the money 
amongst the poor.” Returning to see him 
the next morning, which was the Vigil of the 
Nativity of our Lady, they told him they had 
given all. “ My friends,” said he, “ I pray 
God with all my heart, to bless and comfort 
you, for having thus comforted me by what 
you tell me.” Then turning his eyes towards 
his crucifix, which he had used in the conver¬ 
sion of so many sinners, they saw him weep 
for joy, thanking our Lord for granting him 
the favor to die poor, as he had desired. 
His peace of mind was a little disturbed 
shortly after by his treasurer, who came to 
tell him that he had that day received some 
money, and to mention that his furniture was 
still in the house. But the Saint would not 
lose the merit of the poverty he loved so 


S/. Thomas of Villanova, 319 

much, but commanded the money to be 
divided amongst his servants, and as to his 
furniture, he caused it all to be taken to the 
college of poor students, to whom he had left 
it by will, excepting the bed on which he lay, 
which he gave to the keeper of the prisons, 
begging him to lend it him, for the short 
remainder of his life, that he might be able 
to die absolutely despoiled of everything. 

The pain which he felt was violent, yet he 
suffered without complaint; his countenance 
was always calm, and he preserved his judg¬ 
ment to the last, perfect and entire. Not¬ 
withstanding all his pain and weakness, he 
received those who came to visit him with 
the same gentleness and affability which he 
displayed w^hen in full health, and permitted 
none to leave his presence without exciting 
them to the love and fear of God and care 
for their salvation by some passage from 
Scripture, judiciously selected according to 
the disposition and state of each of their 
souls. Several of them returned as much 
touched with what they had seen and heard, 
as if an angel had spoken to them rather 
than a man. The canons who had learnt from 
the physicians, that according to the natural 
course of the malady, he could not last long, 
went to beg him to allow them the honor of 


320 SL TIio 77 ias of Villa 7 iova, 

giving him a place of sepulture in their 
church; he received their offer thankfully, 
and testified all the gratitude possible, but 
said to Don Jerome Cartos, who was on his 
knees before him delivering their message, 
that he felt extremely obliged to their body, 
for the favor done him on this occasion, but 
humbly begged thorn to consider that he was 
a religious, and as such he had thought it 
best to choose his burial place among his 
brethren of our Lady of Succors, and called 
upon them, in the name of God, not after 
his death to prevent his last wish from being 
attended to. Upon this, not to distress him, 
they dropped the subject, intending to resume 
it on a more fitting opportunity. 

On Saturday evening, the Vigil of our 
Lady, after having entertained himself some 
time alone with his God, he caused Extreme 
Unction to be administered to him, and re¬ 
ceived this Sacrament with sentiments of 
devotion which excited the admiration of 
those who assisted, making the responses 
himself with the other ecclesiastics, and recit¬ 
ing the verses and the prayers which the 
Church is accustomed to use in this holy 
ministry. That being concluded, the canons, 
not repulsed by his refusal, threw them¬ 
selves a second time on their knees, renewing 


321 


S^, Thomas of Villanova, 

their request touching his sepulture. But he 
returned the same answer; that he was a 
religious, and that he did not desire to be 
separated from his brethren, either in life or 
death ; adding, that if our Lord in His good¬ 
ness, and without regarding his offences, 
deigned to show him mercy, he would en¬ 
deavor to prove his gratitude for this last 
mark of their affection, by interceding for 
them in His presence. 

The next morning (the Nativity of our 
Lady) he prayed his suffragan to dress 
quickly an altar in his chamber, and to pre¬ 
pare himself to say mass there. “ For,” said 
he, “as there remain for me only a few 
moments of existence, I wish not to leave 
this world without once more seeing my 
Saviour in this holy sacrifice.” When the 
priest came to the Sanctus, they raised his 
head a little, and at the consecration he 
adored the blessed Sacrament with so much 
tenderness, and so many tears flowed from 
his eyes, that no one who was present could 
prevent doing the same. Immediately after 
the elevation he began the Psalm, te 

Domine speraviT which he continued with 
tears until the verse,' ''In 7nanus tuas'T and 
when the priest finished his communion, he 
at the same instant finished the course of his 
21 


322 SL Thomas of Vdlaaova, 

holy life, and gave up his soul into the hands 
of his Creator. All the assistants remarked 
in his last moments, that the nearer his end 
approached, the more beautiful, serene, and 
shining his countenance became. 

His death, which was known immediately 
in the city, caused so much grief and dismay, 
that from the cries and lamentations which 
were heard on every side, it would have been 
supposed that each one had lost his own 
father. Every church in Valentia was hung 
with black. Every one appeared in an 
extreme affliction and depression of spirit for 
the loss they had sustained, whilst the holy 
body was being prepared for the funeral 
ceremonies. He was clothed in his black 
habit instead of the white which he had worn 
during his illness. They then put on his 
pontificals, the cross, the mitre, and the 
pallium, and everything appertaining to an 
archbishop. The moment after his death 
the palace had been so besieged by people 
wishing to enter, that to prevent confusion it 
had been found necessary to close the doors 
until bishop Cevrian and the heads of the 
chapter had. dressed him themselves, and 
carried and laid him in the great hall where 
he was accustomed to give alms and comfort 
the poor, watering his hands and his face 


S/. Thomas of Villanovi. 323 

with their tears which they could not restrain. 
But no sooner was there a free entry than 
every one crowded in, each thinking himself 
happy if he could see him and kiss his hands, 
but especially the poor, who, according to 
bishop Panfile’s account, amounted to eight 
thousand. The Divine goodness permitted 
it should be thus for the honor of the Saint, 
whom they regretted as their father and chief 
consolation. 

The chapter, magistrates, nobility, the 
parishes, and all the orders of the city fol¬ 
lowed the body from the archiepiscopal 
palace to the cathedral, and from the cathe¬ 
dral to the monastery of our Lady of Succors, 
where he was to be interred. But of all the 
means taken to show him honor in his fu¬ 
neral obsequies, there was nothing which 
proved so clearly the veneration in which 
he was held, as the deep feeling of sorrow 
testified by all present. In place of chanting 
and reciting the prayers ordered by the 
Church in such cases, nothing was heard but 
weeping and groaning. The priests, reli¬ 
gious, and all the people, having their hearts 
so oppressed with grief that they could utter 
no other sounds but those of mourning and 
lamentation; whilst the poor on their part 
filled the air with their cries and groans. 



324 •SV. Thomas of Villanova, 

“What shall we do, what will become of us,’* 
said they, “without our good father?” Thus 
this sad and mournful procession went on 
till it arrived at our Lady of Succors, where 
his sacred body was solemnly interred in 
the most honorable place in the church, not¬ 
withstanding the Saint had expressed a wish 
to be buried in all respects like his brethren. 

As he had left nothing to defray the ex¬ 
pense of any monument to his memory, 
having disposed of everything in favor of 
the poor, without caring to leave his name 
written on earth, our Lord, who had written 
it in heaven, to honor it also on earth, in¬ 
spired one of his canons, Francis Bocca, who 
during his life had always considered him 
as a Saint and a great servant of God, after 
his death to erect a rich tomb of marble with 
his figure in pontificals in relief. As also 
to engrave this epitaph, to descend to pos¬ 
terity as a memorial of his extreme charity 
towards the poor: 

“ Conditiir hoc tiimulo D. Prater Thomas de Villa- 
nova Archiepiscoptis Valentinus, Divini verbi Prcedi- 
cator exiniius: Qid Christi pauperes, benigna quidem 
nianu, no7i solum vivens fovit; sed ad ext7'emwn 
usque spi7'itU77i a77iplissi77iis Elee77iosi7iis est p7'ose- 
quutus, Obiit a7ite7n die Nativitatis sa7ictissi77ics 
Vh'ginis Ma7ieB, a7i7io M. D. L VT 


St Thomas of Villanova, 325 

In like manner he inspired the bishop 
of Segovia, formerly disciple and religious 
of St. Thomas, to put his writings in order 
especially his Sermons and Commentaries 
upon the Canticles, and to have them printed 
under the name of the author, who in the 
schools of Spain is always designated the 
Seraphic Doctor, to distinguish him from St. 
Thomas Aquino the Angelic Doctor. One 
of his admirers has given us reason to hope 
that the first leisure time he can obtain shall 
be employed in revising his works, to correct 
them of the numerous errors which have 
crept into the German edition, and in a new 
dress to render them more common in 
France. 

It is of faith to believe that the charity 
of the Saints and servants of God towards 
their friends is nothing lessened by their 
death. And as St. Peter promised the faith¬ 
ful in his second epistle to remember them 
before God after his decease, that by his 
care and prayers the doctrine which he had 
taught them should not be effaced from their 
memory, so they lose not the affection for 
those with whom they have contracted a 
friendship upon earth, but it is rather in¬ 
creased in heaven, where they pray for them 
and procure them every possible favor with 


326 St Thomas of Vi/hmova. 

so much the more zeal and affection, as in 
a state of glory their charity is more pure 
and perfect. 

St. Thomas of Villa nova, who wished to 
end his life as he had so long occupied it, 
in assisting all men, promised some of his 
friends in particular to remember them after 
his death. That they might be confirmed 
in their opinion of his holiness and merits, 
our Lord permitted him to appear to them 
after his death, radiant with light and glory. 
I will relate some amongst many of these 
remarkable appearances. 

The respect and devotion which the chap¬ 
ter bore to his memory, induced the canons, 
who by his death became possessed of the 
power to alter many things in the govern¬ 
ment of their church, to content themselves 
with simply electing a grand vicar, till the 
see was filled. Through respect and love 
for their venerated prelate, they permitted 
the order he had appointed, and all his offi¬ 
cers, to remain as he had established them, 
and bishop Cevnan and Dr. de la Porte only 
left the palace when they heard that Don 
Francis of Navarre was named archbishop. 
They then took for their residence the great 
house of the archdeacon, near the cathedral. 
On the evening they arrived, all their dis- 


6*4 Thomas of Villanova, 327 

course after supper turned upon the virtues 
and conduct of their charitable pastor, of the 
loss sustained by the city and kingdom of 
Valentia, and especially by the poor, who 
seemed in him to have lost a good and mer¬ 
ciful father. 

They then retired to their chambers, their 
tears flowing plentifully at the remembrance 
of all his goodness. Dr. de la Porte, who, 
filled with grief and sadness, had continued 
watching till two hours after midnight, per¬ 
ceived at that time, in the midst of a beautiful 
and resplendent light, the blessed St. Thomas 
approach the bed with a countenance full 
of majesty and reverence, and dressed in his 
Augustinian habit as he usually wore it 
during his life. “Why do you weep for 
me ?’' said he; “ weep for me no longer if 
you love me, since I enjoy a repose and 
happiness that the whole united world has 
not the power to bestow.” Having said this 
he vanished from his eyes with the light 
that surrounded him, leaving his devotee 
with mingled feelings of holy joy and admi¬ 
ration, scarcely knowing whether he ought 
to consider this as a true appearance of the 
Saint or an illusion of the enemy. Yet he 
was wonderfully consoled in his inmost heart, 
and as soon as it was day repaired to the 


328 SL Thomas of Villajiova, 

chamber of the bishop, who seeing the joy 
and astonishment depicted in his counte¬ 
nance, suspected what had happened to him. 
“What is the news?” said the good prelate 
to him, “ is it possible that you have seen 
our good father?” “How, my lord,” replied 
he, “have you also seen him yourself? I 
have indeed seen him, and I came here 
with the intention of telling you all that 
passed. In the name of God, tell me what 
happened to you.” Upon comparing, they 
found that the Saint had appeared to them 
l)oth the same hour, in the same habit, with 
the same splendor, and -that he had rejoiced 
and comforted their hearts with the same 
words. Having well examined and consid¬ 
ered the subject together, there remained 
not the least doubt upon their minds that it 
was a real and true apparition with which 
the Saint had deigned to honor them. 

Another apparition, which will be the last 
I shall relate, that I may enter at once upon 
his miracles, will be an illustrious example 
of his charity and love for the poor ; since 
in the midst of his enjoyment in glory he 
remembered them, and continued his care 
over them in their sufferings. The Saint 
finding himself on the bed of death in his 
last illness, and desiring to dispose of what- 


SL Thomas of Villa7iova, 329 

ever remained in his possession in favor of 
the poor, had summoned his tenants to know 
to what amount each was indebted to him, 
and to draw from them a promjse to pay it 
at a certain time, that the whole might be 
distributed to the poor according to his last 
will and the apostolic brief which he had 
obtained to be used for that purpose. Then 
addressing himself to a certain citizen, whom 
he had always thought his friend, and a 
man of perfect probity, “You are witness,’^ 
said he, “to the promises of my tenants, 
by which the greater number oblige them¬ 
selves to pay me at Christmas, and the rest 
at Easter. 1 believe they will do so, but if 
they fail, keep them to their word; I confide 
these notes to you, and entreat you for the 
love of God, as soon as you shall have re¬ 
ceived the money, to distribute it amongst 
the poor, and comfort them in their misery 
at the beginning of the year. And may God 
in return bless you and make you happy.’' 

H is friend promised him faithfully all that 
he asked; but no sooner was the Saint laid 
in the grave, and the fear of his ever becom¬ 
ing acquainted with his perfidy at an end, 
than after having received the money which 
was due with much care and exactness, he 
distributed only a part of it amongst the 


330 


SL Thomas of VMu::ova. 

poor, and used the rest in furthering his own 
affairs, though with the intention of restoring 
it when it should be convenient to him. St. 
Thomas appeared to him on the night of the 
Epiphany, and with a voice animated with 
anger and a just resentment, said to him, 
“ How! faithless that you are, is it thus you 
deceive me ? How long have you lost your 
honor and stifled your conscience? I should 
never have thought this of you; nor would 
it ever have entered my mind to believe that 
you would have been so little conscientious 
as to prefer your own interest to that of the 
poor, and to assist yourself by leaving them 
. in distress. What you have done, is a fault for 
which God will not fail to punish you, unless 
you prevent it by a timely penitence; because 
the tears which the miserable have shed, are 
living words which penetrate the heavens, 
demanding justice of God for your sins.’’ 
At these words the man was seized with 
horror, and quite beside himself at such a 
reprimand. He protested he would fulfil 
his promise to the letter, and entreated the 
Saint in the name of God to implore the 
divine mercy for him. 

The next day he returned a part of the 
money, but still not the whole, being unwill¬ 
ing to inconvenience himself or disarrange 


S^, Thomas of Villanova, 331 

his affairs. The Saint again visited him 
on the night of the Purification, and with 
words much more harsh and severe, called 
him a liar, and a man without faith; he 
threatened him with sudden death, and told 
him that God would never have mercy on 
him, since he disdained to show it to the 
poor who were his members. “You ima¬ 
gine,” said he, “that I am dead. No, no, I 
live a life infinitely better than that which I 
lived when you pledged your word to me.” 
Then turning towards a boy who followed 
him with a discipline in his hand, “ Strike, 
strike this man,” said he, “ that he may re¬ 
member his duty, and that he may obtain a 
wholesome spirit of fear.” The boy obeyed, 
and disciplined him till the Saint told him to 
desist. “Lose not the remembrance of this 
warning,” said he, “profit by this punish¬ 
ment, it is far less than you have deserved.” 

It was scarcely day, when the man, aston¬ 
ished beyond expression, called for the arch¬ 
bishop’s almoner, not being able to rise from 
the bed himself, on account of his wounds, 
and relating to him w’hat had passed, placed 
in his hands all the money he had in the 
house; and as more was necessary, he bor¬ 
rowed of his friends, that he might not re¬ 
main indebted to a creditor so exact and 


332 5V. Thomas of Villanova, 

punctual as the Saint. He published every¬ 
where the glory enjoyed by the Saint, and 
the zeal he continued to have for the poor, as 
well in heaven as when on earth; like the 
holy patriarch Abraham, who after having 
passed the best part of his life in works of 
mercy and hospitality, even after his death 
lodges the poor Lazarus in his bosom. 

May it please God of his infinite goodness 
so to dispose the hearts and desires of each 
one of us, that we may profit from the exam¬ 
ple this holy prelate has left us of his vir¬ 
tues; that following his footsteps, and as¬ 
piring to attain his humility, meekness, re¬ 
collection, charity, and mercy, we may labor 
for the glory of our heavenly Father and 
the good of our brethren; that our end may 
be as happy as his; and that with him we 
may eternally enjoy the repose and immortal 
felicity which he now enjoys, and will for 
ever enjoy throughout all ages! 


ABRIDGMENT 


or THE 


MIRACLES OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, 


RELIGIOUS OF THE ORDER OF ST. AUGUSTINE, 
AND ARCHBISHOP OF VALENTIA. 

TAKEN FROM THE PROCESSES OF HIS CANONIZATION. 


WHOUGH it may seem, after the recital 



which has been made of the virtues and 


7 merits of St. Thomas of Villanova, that 
here the discourse might end, and that it could 
not extend farther than his death and burial, 
without going beyond the bounds of history; 
nevertheless, as my design in writing his Life 
was no other than to make known his holi¬ 
ness by the relation of his virtuous actions, 
and as the miracles performed by God in his 
favor and by his suffrages are also proofs of 
his sanctity, though not so convincing as his 
charity and good works; it is well I should 
relate some out of that prodigious number 
of miracles with which our Lord honored 
his name and memory, especially a part of 
those which were verified and approved with 


333 






334 Thcinas of Villaiiovx, 

all the solemnities required in such cases for 
proceeding- to his canonization; knowing that 
in the question of miracles it is better rather 
to regard their nature than their numbers. 

After one word, then, on the miraculous 
incorruption of his body, not to weary the 
reader, it will suffice to relate those only 
which were last exposed at Rome on the day 
of his canonization, in pictures suspended 
from the ceiling of St. Peter’s, with an in¬ 
scription at the foot of each. 

INCORRUPTION OF THE BODY OF ST. THOMAS OF 
VILLANOVA. 

In the year 1588, twenty-three years after 
the death of St. Thomas, the devotion of the 
people at his tomb increased daily, from the 
continual miracles which God performed for 
the benefit of those who had recourse to his 
merits and suffrages. 

A canon of the cathedral, Don John Bap¬ 
tist Vivas, who revered him much, resolved 
to give him fresh proofs of his devotion and 
remembrance, by providing, at his own ex¬ 
pense, a silver lamp of great value, and a 
railing of bronze richly worked to inclose his 
tomb, which until then had remained open 
to the church. To lay down this railing it 
was necessary to raise the tomb and the 


335 


Si. Thomas of Villajiova. 

marble figure upon it, and to dig the earth 
around it. While this was being done there 
issued from the tomb an odor so sweet and 
agreeable, that in the judgment of some per¬ 
fumers who were present, there was nothing 
to be compared to it, either amongst the 
most excellent perfumes, or flowers the most 
rare and exquisite. 

In this exhalation there was a something 
divine and inexpressible, which elevated the 
mind and feelings beyond what was natural. 
All judged unanimously that this odor came 
from heaven, since there was nothing to be 
found like it upon earth, and that God, 
through His goodness and justice, began to 
make this holy body enjoy, in some sort, the 
happiness that the soul which had animated 
it already possessed. 

But when, upon seeing and touching him, 
it was found that his body was still entire, and 
almost as fresh as when they laid him there, 
not even his habit being decayed or corrupted, 
there was a universal cry of joy and admira¬ 
tion at the wonderful spectacle; and they 
blessed the infinite power of Him who had 
done this for the glory of His faithful servant 
and Saint. Everything was afterwards care¬ 
fully examined, and upon its being verified 
that what was seen could not be the effect 


33 ^ S^. Thomas of Villanova, 

either of art or nature, but proceeded from 
the Author of nature Himself, who when He 
pleases renders Himself admirable in His 
saints, a deposition was drawn up in due 
form, which was produced thirty years after¬ 
wards, in the year i6i8, with several other 
testimonies to his sanctity, and laid before 
Pius V., who in the same year declared him 
blessed, permitting the religious of the Order 
of St. Augustine, of the kingdoms of Castile, 
Arragon, Valentia, and Catalonia, to revere 
his memory, and celebrate his feast on the 
18th of September. 

Soon afterwards Gregory XV., successor 
of Pius V., desirous that this celestial light 
should be raised higher to spread its rays 
far and wide, to the glory of God and the 
exaltation of the holy Church, granted by a 
benignant extension of his favors, that the 
festival should be kept universally in all the 
houses of the order, with a double office, 
which was continued till the pontificate of 
Alexander VII., whom God had destined to 
complete the work of his canonization. This 
pontiff held him up to public veneration by 
the declaration which he made in the year 
1658, accompanied with that splendor which 
the pious reader, who wishes to satisfy his 
curiosity, will find described in the account 


Thomas of Villanova, 337 

which is printed of the holy and august cere¬ 
monies of his canonization. 


MIRACLE I. 

MULTIPLICATION OF CORN IN FAVOR OF THE POOR. 

The first of these miracles was that which 
St. Thomas wrought to relieve a poor widow 
who had several children, whom she was 
unable to support unless assisted by his 
charity. She went to pour into his fatherly 
ear all her cares and distresses, and the state 
of destitution to which she was reduced, and 
entreated him to bestow on her a bushel of 
corn, to save her children from feeling the 
pangs of hunger. Her request was granted 
instantly; but to the faith of the Saint was 
reserved the execution of it. He commanded 
his servants to provide her with the quantity 
of corn she desired, but received for answer, 
that it was all gone, and that the granary 
had even been swept. He could not credit 
the account, and insisted on their going to 
see if there was not a little still left. They 
went, merely to satisfy him, and returned 
assuring him that there was none left. In 
this there was nothing astonishing, consider- 
22 



33 ^ 6V. Thomas of Villanova, 

ing the number that were daily and hourly 
relieved, as the servants were strictly en¬ 
joined never to send any one away empty- 
handed. But his charity, which was the 
cause of his granary being so soon emptied, 
joined to his faith in the mercy of God, made 
him go himself, saying, that he could not 
believe that our Lord would abandon him 
in this strait, when he was endeavoring to 
relieve Him in the person of this poor widow. 
He found his confidence was not misplaced, 
for on his arrival the granary was found to 
be full of corn, so that he could say, like the 
rich man in the Gospel, though in a very 
different sense, “ I must pull down my barns,’' 
being scarcely able to open the door, so 
pressed was it by the quantity of corn within. 
The poor widow received two sacks, whilst 
the servants, who a moment before had seen 
the place empty, were altogether astonished, 
and scarcely knew what to say or think in so 
extraordinary a case. This miracle seemed 
in one respect greater than that which the 
prophet Elijah performed for another widow, 
since the prophet only multiplied meal, while 
our Saint caused corn to exist where there 
was none before, by the power of his faith 
and word, as if God had communicated to 
him his absolute power of creating. The 


Tho 7 nas of Villanova. 339 

inscription to this miracle, on the picture at 
St. Peter’s at Rome, was as follows: 

“ Horreum friimento prorsus vacuum Sancti 
Thomce nutu plenum repente invenitur ad pau¬ 
per es sublevandos!' 


MIRACLE II. 

ST. THOMAS WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS CURES 
A LAME AND PARALYTIC MAN. 

Another miracle which proves, no less 
than the preceding, the great merits of St. 
Thomas, and how powerful he was with God, 
was that of the cure of a poor man who was 
both lame and paralytic. One day, as the 
good prelate looked from his chamber into 
the court where alms were given, he perceived 
a man who walked with crutches, having lost 
the use of his limbs, who, after receiving an 
alms on one side, went over to the other to 
obtain a second. St. Thomas called him, 
and asked him if he had not already received 
an alms. The man acknowledged that he 
had. “ How comes it then,” said the Saint, 
“ that you try to get another ?” “ It is true, 

my Lord,” replied the poor man, “ that what 
I have received is quite enough for myself, 
but it is not much when divided into four, for 
I have a wife and two children, who are not 



340 SL Thomas of Villanova, 

able to come and obtain anything for them¬ 
selves.’^ “It is not enough, certainly,” said 
the Saint. “ Now tell me, which would you 
prefer—that your health should be restored, 
or that I should order them to give you four 
alms every day ?” “ Please God, my Lord,’' 

he replied, “ I should prefer recovering my 
health; for I assure you that if I could work, 
I would rather do so than beg for the support 
of my family.” “Now then,” said the Saint, 
“ have a great faith and confidence in God 
and raising him upright, he gave him his 
blessing and perfect health at the same time ; 
recommending him to return thanks to Al¬ 
mighty God for what he had just done. The 
poor man quitted his crutches upon the spot, 
walked without pain, and as perfectly well as 
if he had never been afflicted with any disease. 
This miracle is very similar to that which St. 
Peter performed on the lame man cured at 
the gate of the Temple, excepting that the 
holy apostle excused himself from granting 
any other aid than that of health, saying that 
he had neither gold nor silver to bestow, 
whilst St. Thomas, who had both for the 
poor, gave some to this poor man, as well 
as his restoration to health. This happened 
the year before the death of the holy prelate. 
The inscription of this miracle was as fbllows: 


6V. Thomas of Villatiova, 341 

“ Claudus itemque paralyticus a Sancto 
Thoma crucis signo liberatiirT 


MIRACLE III. 

A DEAD CHILD BY THE MERITS OF ST. THOMAS OF 
VILLANOVA RAISED TO LIFE AT HIS TOMB. 

One of the children of Augustine Assenti, 
•widow of Gabriel Cardonne, a citizen of 
Valentia, named Francis Paul, had been 
afflicted for seven months with a malignant 
fever, no physician having been able to do 
him the least good. At length, after much 
suffering and being reduced to a state of 
extreme weakness, he died. The poor 
mother was quite inconsolable at his loss, and 
her grief was increased by the regret she 
felt at not having taken him during his long 
illness to the tomb of St. Thomas. Yet not 
losing all hope in his mediation, though they 
were about to lay her son in the grave, she 
took him in her arms to our Lady of Succors, 
and laying him on the tomb of St. Thomas, 
prayed him with many tears to assist her in 
this extremity. Scarcely had she prayed for 
the space of three Paters and three Ave 
Marias than the child raised his head, and 
held out his arms to his mother, who em¬ 
braced him with a joy which could be more 



342 S^, Thomas of Villaitova, 

easily imagined than expressed In words. 
She returned her grateful and humble thanks 
to our Lord and St. Thomas, whom she ever 
afterwards honored as her patron and holy 
benefactor. The child, who had attained the 
age of seventeen months, recovered from his 
first death to die again in his fourth year. 
This miracle had these following words for 
the inscription : 

Puer^ adolescens XVII., mensittm Matre 
ad sepulchrmn Sancti Thomce precante revi- 
viscitl 


MIRACLE IV. 

A GIRL SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE ALSO RESUSCITATED 
AT THE TOMB OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

In the year 1604, a woman of Valentia, 
named Esperanza Crespo, widow of Anthony 
Fabia, was in the deepest sorrow at the state 
of her daughter’s health, whose life was des¬ 
paired of by the physicians, and whose death 
was only delayed from day to day by the tender 
and watchful care of her mother. At length 
she expired, and the poor woman closed her 
eyes, watering them with the tears which fell 
from her own. After the body had been 



343 


Thomas of Villanova, 

kept some time, and they were upon the point 
of consigning it to the grave, the thought 
came into the mother’s mind, that she would 
have recourse to the prayers of St. Thomas 
of Villanova, whom she particularly venerated, 
and have her carried to his tomb. She 
followed her poor child’s body, and cold as 
it lay in the arms of death, made with great 
faith this prayer: “ Blessed father, I beseech 
you to pray to God for me, that it will please 
Him to grant me the life of my daughter, for 
I have a great confidence in you, and I firmly 
believe that you are a Saint in heaven.’' 
This short prayer was no sooner made than 
the girl began to move and to show all the 
signs of life and perfect health. Every one 
present was struck with astonishment, whilst 
the mother, who had obtained what she so 
ardently desired, praised and thanked the 
goodness of God, who had favorably heard 
her prayers through the merits of St. Thomas 
of Villanova. This was the inscription of the 
fourth miracle: 

Virgo XVI. annortim, cU 7 n pr'ope esset ut 
conderetur^ ad vitam a S. Thoma^ flagitante 
Matre revocaturl 


344 Thomas of Villanova^ 

MIRACLE V. 

A BLIND GIRL RECEIVED HER SIGHT AT THE TOMB 
OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

This miracle, so much the more worthy 
of the Saint’s compassion, the subject of it 
being of so tender an age, was wrought on 
a little creature named Marcella, daughter 
Anthony Mathieu, Doctor of Laws, who from 
the age of three years had suffered from a 
disease of the stomach, which caused her to 
vomit blood from her mouth, and to return 
whatever nourishment was given her. Three 
months she continued in this state, nothing 
that was done for her seeming to give her 
any relief. The disease increased, so that 
at times she was almost suffocated, and at 
length her eyes were affected, and she en¬ 
tirely lost her sight Some time afterwards, 
her mother, who was deeply afflicted at her 
state, going to make her devotions at the 
tomb of St. Thomas, determined to take her 
child with her; and laying her little hands 
upon the tomb whilst she knelt by her side, 
she humbly invoked the assistance of the 
Saint for her. Then leaving the church, she 
gave some money to the sacristan that mass 
might be said for that intention. It is most 
remarkable, that at nine o’clock the next 


S^, Thofuas of Villmiova, 345 

morning-, the very hour when the holy sacri¬ 
fice was being offered for her daughter, she 
recovered her sight, and was cured of her 
disease and all her infirmities, from which 
she had suffered so much. The rest of her 
life was passed in the enjoyment of perfect 
health. 

“ Ptiella trien 7 iis, dtim ad aram Sancti Tho- 
mce Sacrum peragitur exitiali morbo eripitur'^ 


MIRACLE VI. 

BY TOUCHING THE RELICS OF ST. THOMAS, A GIRL 
IS MIRACULOUSLY CURED OF A DISEASE PRO¬ 
NOUNCED INCURABLE. 

Another girl, of the age of twenty-six 
years, knew not what remedies to use for an 
ulcer which was spread over the whole of her 
face, so disfiguring her that no one could 
look at her without horror. Seeing this 
disease increase, and at length attack the 
vital parts of her body, the physician told her 
plainly that she had now nothing more to do 
than prepare for death, which would shortly 
arrive. A friend, who was very devout to St. 
Thomas, persuaded her to have recourse to 
his prayers, and to believe firmly that God 
would not fail to assist her by the merits of 
the blessed archbishop. She then caused 



346 


St Thovms of Vi/lanov'i. 


some of his relics to be brought to her, 
which she applied herself, with much faith and 
devotion, to the parts which were the most 
painful, and almost instantly the disease dis¬ 
appeared. The flesh and skin which had 
before been putrefied and decayed, quickly 
recovered their first and natural appearance, 
as if she had never been afflicted by so 
dreadful a disease. The inscription to this 
miracle is in these words: 

“ Virginem XVI. annorum foede ulceratamy 
et jam jam morituramy S. Thomce reliqum 
saluti reddunti 


MIRACLE VII. 

A CURE VERY SIMILAR TO THE PRECEDING BY THE 
MERITS OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

A GIRL, whose leg and part of the thigh 
had been eaten away by an ulcer of long 
standing, expected death every day, the 
agonies she suffered rendering her life weari¬ 
some and almost insupportable. In this 
state she addressed herself to St. Thomas, 
and prayed him with much devotion to inter¬ 
cede for her, that she might obtain, if not the 
health which she scarcely dared to ask for, 
at least an alleviation of her pains, and 
strength to endure them until it should 



Tho 7 nas of Villaiiova, 347 

please our Lord in His mercy to deliver her 
from them in His own good time, by putting 
an end to her life and suffering together. 
Her prayer was heard, and even beyond 
what she had expected. For the Saint not 
only obtained the alleviation, but also the 
entire cure of her disease ; the leg, which 
before had been almost deprived of flesh, 
being now perfectly sound and firm, without 
any remains of its former condition, except 
some cicatrices upon the skin, which re¬ 
mained, as it were, to remind her continually 
of this wonderful miracle. It is described 
under this title: 

“ Virgo desperato re77tedio C7^uris graviter 
vuhierati Beati Thomce ope saTiaturP 


MIRACLE VIII. 

A WOUNDED MAN, AFTER HAVING KEPT HIS BED 
TWO YEARS, IS MIRACULOUSLY CURED BY THE 
INTERCESSION OF ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

One day, when the people of Valentia 
were diverting themselves in the bull-ring, 
a shoemaker, named Peter Assentio, had his 
side pierced by the horns of one of those 
beasts, which threw him to the ground with 
so much violence that he lay there dreadfully 
hurt. He was carried upon a ladder to his 



348 


6 ’/. Thomas of Villanova. 


house, and every means taken for his re¬ 
covery, for two years, without effect. For 
this reason, finding all human remedies use¬ 
less, and only exhausting his purse without 
restoring his health, he resolved to have re¬ 
course to heavenly remedies by a special vow, 
which he made to St. Thomas of Villanova. 
From the first day of the No vena which he 
made at his tomb, he felt himself considerably 
better, and before it was finished, was en¬ 
tirely recovered. 

“ Valentmus Sartor^ cui taurus in theatro latus 
g^mviter effodej'at post biennium a St, Thoma 
liberaturi* 


MIRACLE IX. 

A MAN COVERED WITH ULCERS, WHICH CONFINED 
HIM TO HIS BED FOR FOURTEEN YEARS, IS IN 
AN INSTANT RECOVERED* BY THE PRAYERS OF ST. 
THOMAS. 

A MASTER mason of Valentia, named James 
Cervere, who had kept his bed for fourteen 
years, without hope of ever leaving it, except 
to be carried to the grave, the ulcers with 
which he was covered being pronounced 
incurable, in the month of October, 1605, 
was reduced by a fever and other complaints 
to the most extreme misery. Seeing then 



Sf, Thomas of Villanova, 349 

death before his eyes, he was visited by a 
person who vras very devout to St. Thomas 
of Villanova, who induced him to invoke his 
assistance, and to recommend himself to his 
prayers. The poor man did so, and obliged 
himself, in case of his restoration to health, 
to hang a picture over his sepulchre, in which 
this miracle should be painted. It having 
pleased our Lord to listen to his prayer, 
three days were not passed before he found 
himself perfectly recovered, and all his 
wounds quite closed and healed. He after¬ 
wards faithfully performed his vow to the 
Saint. 

Fabj'o coementario Iceviim latus cotitinenti 
vubiere exccesum S. Thomce presidio restitui- 
turP 


MIRACLE X. 

A PARALYTIC RECOVERS HIS HEALTH THROUGH THE 
INTERCESSION OF ST. THOMAS. 

In the year 1608, a man of Valentia, named 
Ciper, at the age of fifty-six years, had a para¬ 
lytic seizure, which deprived him of the use 
of one side. He tried every remedy which 
was suggested for his recovery, but finding 
that he only spent his time and money with- 



350 54 Thomas of Villanova, 

out any effect, he asked his health of God in 
fervent prayer, through the merits of St. 
Thomas, who, by touching the affected side 
with his right hand when he was sleeping, 
perfectly restored to him the use of it. 

Apopleticus S. Thom<2 dextj^a in somno 
tactus incolumis evaditT 


MIRACLE XI. 

A WOMAN IN A DANGEROUS LABOR IS MIRACULOUSLY 
DELIVERED, AND HER DEAD CHILD BROUGHT TO 
LIFE THROUGH THE MERITS OF ST. THOMAS. 

Anne Torres, wife of John Ramos, a citizen 
of Valentia, suffering for several days every 
imaginable pain in her confinement, gave 
birth at last to a dead child. Those who 
were present vowed her to St. Thomas, to 
whom she had always been very devout, and 
included the child also in the vow, which was 
no sooner made, than she was in a state to 
return thanks to God herself. Our Lord not 
only restored her health, but the life also 
of the child, through the intercession of St. 
Thomas, whom she had invoked in her suf¬ 
ferings. 

Inf anti mortuo vita simidque matri in ex¬ 
tremis laboranti sanitas ope D, Thomce rest! 
tuunturP 



•S/. Thomas of Villanova, 351 
MIRACLE XII. 

A DEAD MAN RAISED TO LIFE BY ST. THOMAS. 

The author whom I have followed, relates 
in his history so many miracles performed 
through the merits of this glorious Saint, 
from the year of his decease, 1555, to the 
year 1626, not to mention those which our 
Lord has continued until the present year, 
1659, that there are enough not only to 
make a third part to this history, but an 
entire book, which we hope one day to see 
brought to light. I shall, then, end this ac¬ 
count of his miracles with the remark of one 
who still lives, and who still speaks to preach 
the merits of this great Saint, to whom he is 
indebted for the life he now enjoys. This 
person is an Augustinian religious, named 
Father Thomas Bosch, between eighteen and 
nineteen years of age, who maintained a 
theoloeical thesis in our convent of St. Au- 
gustine of Valentia, the 28th of May of last 
year, 1628, which he dedicated to St. Thomas 
of Villanova, under this glorious title, “ 7 ;^ 
vitcB restihitcB obsequium f to acknowledge 
the favor our Lord had shown him in his 
early years, having miraculously restored 
him to life by the merits and prayers of St. 
'I'homas, to whom his parents dedicated him. 


352 S^, Thomas of Villanova, 

The truth of this fact cannot be reasonably 
disputed after the testimony of this thesis, 
which has been seen, examined, and ap¬ 
proved by the Spanish Inquisition, according 
to custom and the right it possesses in such 
cases. It has been placed in my hands by 
brother Louis Lubin Diacie, theologian of 
the community of Bourges, who has lately 
brought it from Spain, where the devotion to 
St. Thomas of Villanova, and the desire of 
obtaining knowledge, have detained him for 
some years, and who during his residence at 
Valentia, has seen this Brother Thomas 
Bosch, whose learning and virtue he holds in 
high estimation. He remarked among other 
things, that in conversation the tears always 
came into his eyes whenever he spoke of St. 
Thomas of Villanova. vitce restitutce 

obsequiumT 


THE END. 


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the Blessed Virgin. 


Translated from the French of Rev. M. D’Arville, Apostolic Prothonotary, 
and published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Phila¬ 
delphia, the Most Rev. Arclibishop of Baltimore, and the Most Rev. Arch¬ 
bishop of New York. 1 neat 12mo volume. 


Price—In cloth.$1.W 

In gilt edges. 2.00 


This Is a delightful book; brimful of sweet flowers; a lovely garland in 
boaor of Mary our Mother and powerful intercessor beLre the throne of her 
Bon. 

Well has the Magnificat said, “all generations s'.all call me blessed;” all 
times, and in all lands, wherever the symbol, upon which her Divine Son 
lansomed a wicked and undeserving world with his excruciating sufferings and 
death, has a votary, her name, spotless and beautiful, shall be pronounced with 
reverence, and her protection implored. 

The tome before ns is a collection of the honors paid to Mary by the great 
and good of all lauds; by those who, with the diadem of earthly grandeur 
adorning their brows, and vexed political commonwealths to guard and pacify, 
fonnd time to honor the daughter of St. Aune, the beloved Mother of our Lord 
and Saviour. 

Buy the book. Read one or two pages. We promise a feast, a desire to read 
the whole, a determination to do so .—CatUlic Telegraph. 

This work is divided into seventy-two Exercises, corresponding with tha 
■ amber of Fears which the Flessei Virgin passed on earih, with a coaseeratiaa 

( 3 ) 









4 


Published by Peter F. Cunnicgham, 

to Marj the twelve months of the year, in reference to her virtaes; a'Ai* i 
method of using certain of the Exercises by a way of devotion for the “ Month 
cf Mary,” a Novena in honor of the lminacula,te Ctuoeption, and other matter* 
both interesting and advantageous to the true servant of Mary, and those wh* 
would become 

“ Baltimore, April 6, 1865. 

“Wo willingly unite with the Ordinary of Philadelphia and the Metropolita* 
of New York in approving ‘The Year of Mary,’ republished by Peter F. Cnu- 
ningham, of Philadelphia. 

“M. J. SPALDING, 

'•^Archbishop of Baltimore.A' 

A work presented to the Catholics with such recommendations docs not need 
any woid of encouragement from us.— Pilot. 

This work meets a want long ungratified. The devotional Exercises which 
make up the book are ingeniously arranged in reference, 1st, to each year of the 
Blessed Virgin’s long residence on earth ; 2d, to every Sunday and festival 
throughout the year. The Exercises are therefore seventy-two in number, cor¬ 
responding to the generally received belief of the duration of her terrestrial life. 

The First Exercise is thus appropriated to the Immaculate Conception, and 
may be used both for the 8th of December and for the first day of the year. 
The seventy-second celebrates the Assumption, and may be profitably read on 
the 15th of August, and on the last day of the year. 

Each Instruction is prefaced by a text from holy writ, and followed by an 
example, a historical fact, a practice and a prayer. 

The Approbationa are: 

1st. By the Roman Theological Censor. 

2d. By a favorable letter from his Holiness Gregory XVI. 

3d. By the recommendatory signatures of the Archbishops of Baltimore and 
New York, and the Bishop of Philadelphia. 

This Devotional is a deeply interesting and practical manual, and Mrs. Sadlier, 
who has very skilfully reduced the originally free translation into graceful con¬ 
formity to the original, has rendered the Christian public a most essential ser¬ 
vice. We wish it the widest circulation.— N. Y. Tablet. 

“The Year of Mary” is one of the most beautiful tributes to the Mother of 
God that a Catholic family could desire to have. We are free, however, to 
confess our partiality in noticing any book that treats of the pre-eminent glory 
of her whom God exalted above all created beings. 

But, independently of this consideration, the present volume can be recom¬ 
mended on its own special merits. Besides being replete with spiritual instruc¬ 
tion, it presents a detailed account of the life of the Blessed Virgin from the 
Conception to the Assumption, and views her under every possible aspect, both 
as regards herself and her relations with man. It lays down the rules by 
which wo are to be guided in our practical devotions towards her; displays its 
genuine characteristics, and indicates the sublime sentiments by which we 
ought to be actuated when we pay her our homage, or invoke her assistance. 

‘‘The Year of Mary” contains seventy-two Exercises, in accordance with the 
received opinion of the Church that the Blessed Virgin lived that number of 
years on earth. In these instructions, the reader shall learn her life, her pre¬ 
rogatives, her glory in Heaven, and her boundless goodness to mankind. We 
would like to see this book in every Catholic family in the country. It is impos¬ 
sible for us to honor the Mother of God sufficiently well. But in reading this 
book, or any like it, we must ever bear in mind that acts, not mere professions 
of piety, should be the distinctive marks of “the true servant of the Blessed 
Virgin,” and that she is realty honored, only in so far as wo imitate her virtues 
for the sake of Him through whom alone we can hope for eternal life. 

The name of Mrs. Sadlier is familiar to the public; her talents as an authoress 
are too well known to need any eulogy here; she is an accomplished lady, and 
has faithful y done her part. As to the publisher, Mr, Cunningham, we say, 
without flattery, that he has done a good work in preienting this excellent 
book to his felloW'Catholics, and with all our heart we wish him the fallest 
neasure of success to which this mhle enterprife entitles him.— The Monthly. 


29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia, 


5 


I^S^icditaUons of St. Ig^natius; or, ^‘Tlic Si>iri. 
tual Exercises’^ expounded, 

By Father Siniscalchi, of the Society of Jesus. 

f'^blisLed with tne approbation of the Right Rev. Bis\op of PhiladelphiA. 
b <ol. 12mo. 


Price—Neat 'y bound in cloth, gilt back. 


fi se 


The f iHio of the great founder of the Society of Jesus, would itself insure the 
charac,e«’ of the above book of meditations, as oue of the most meritorious kind. 
But ihn greater part of Catholics of all nations have been made familiar wiib 
thenalaro object, and efliciency of these meditations iu the Spiritual Retreats 
conducted by tbi Fathers of this Society, in every language, in every country, 
and almost every town of Christendom. We are glad to see this valuable wovk 
published iu our country and tongue, and feel assured it will be hearti.y 
welcomed by the multitudes who are familiar with it, if in no other way, at 
least from the free use which is made of it iu the Jesuit Missions, forming, 
as it Joes, the basis of all those inspiriting exercises which constitute a 
■piritual retreat.— Catholic Mirror. 

This is the flrst American edition of this celebrated work, which has been 
trausla-ted into nearly all the European languages. It supplies a want long 
felt in America. It is an excellent book of Meditations for the family, but it is 
particularly adapted for those attending Retreats or Missions, especially those 
given by the Jesuits, whose method this is. We cannot too strongly recommend 
this book to the Catholic public — Neio Yrr,'k Tablet. 

This is a timely publication of the Meditatiou.s of St. Ignatius, and the Cathol io 
community are indebted to the Philadelphia publisher for bringing the work 
within their reach. In Europe, where it is well known, it would be superfluous 
to do more than call attention to the fact of a new edition being published ; but 
Inasmuch as American Catholics have not had an opportunity of becoming very 
familiar with the work, it may not be out of place to say a few words concern¬ 
ing it. 

The Meditations are twenty-two in number, each divided into three parts, and 
in each division the subject is viewed, as it were, from a different point of view, 
the last being always the most striking. Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven, 
the Mysteries of the Saviour’s Life, and the Happiness of Divine Love—thesis 
•re the subjects of the Saint’s meditations, and every consideration germain to 
such topics calculated to excite the feelings or influence the judgment, is brought 
before the reader in simple, forcible language, or impressed on the mind by 
means of a striking anecdote or opposite illustration. The volume is thickly 
•trewn with quotations from sacred and patruic writings, and the whole range 
of profane history is laid under contribution to furnish material wherewith to 
point a moral or enforce a truth. 

No Catholic family should be without this book, and no Catholic library 
■hould be depending on one copy. It is a noble edition to the ever-increasing 
ttock of Catholic devotional literature, and we hope the publisher’s judicious 
▼enture wl’l bo successful. V^e must not omit to mention that the publication 
ka» received the official sane- on of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia.-* 
Metropolitan Record. 



k^acerdos Sanclificalus; or, Discourses on 
tlic mass and Office, 

With a Preparation and Thanksgiving before und after M-iss for every 
aay in the week Translated from the Italian of St. Alphonsui Ligonrt, 

By the Bev. James J ones. 

1 Tol. l8mo. 

Prf —Neatly bound In c »th, 


86 eta. 




6 


Published b;y Peter F, Cunniugham, 


he L,ife of St. Teresa. 

Written by herself. 

Translated from the Spaaisl by ReT. Canon Dalton, and publl»h» 0 ^/A 


the approbation of the RijM R^. Bishop of Philadelphia vil. 
12mo., neatly hound in cloth. 

Price —In cloth. ^1 M 

In clcth, gilt edge.2 00 


L he Life of St. Catherine of Sienna. 

By Blessed Baymond of Capua, her Confessor. 

Translated from the French, by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Wit> 
the approbation of tiie Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 


12mo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price —In cloth. $1.50 

In cloth, gilt edge.2.00 


fjife of St. Margaret of Cortona. 

Translated from the Italian, by John Gilmary Shea, and published with 
the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 16mo., 
neatly bound in cloth, gilt backs. 

Price.Si .00 

^5^he Cife of St. Angela Merici of Brescia^ 
Foundress of the Order of St. Ursula. 

By the Abbe Parenty. 

With a History of the Order in Ireland, Canada and the United ^ates, 
by John Gilmary Shea. Published with the appi'obation of the Right 
Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol. 16mo., cloth, gilt back. 

Price.$ 1.00 

TThe Life of Blessed Mary Ann of Jesus, 

de Parades y Flores. “The Lily of Quito.” 

By Father Joseph Boero, S. J. 

Translated from the Italian by a Father of the Society of Jesus, and paW 
lished with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadslphistt 
1 vol. Ibrno., neatly bound in cloth, gilt back. 

Fries .$1.00 / 



he Fife of St. Rose of Uima. 

Edited by the Rev Frederick William Faber, D D., and putlisl ed with 
the approbation 0 the Right Rev Bishop of Philadelphia. 1 vol., Usrg# 
16mo , neatly bound in clot j, gilt back. 

Price—Ouly... .thoo 











29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia. 


7 


nr 

B. lie ILife of St. Cecilia, 


Tirgin and Martyr. 


Translated from the French of Father Gneranger, and pnblished with ihl 
approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Phiktdelphia, 

1 ^ol. 12mo. 


Price—In cloth.5f 

In cloth, gilt edge. 2.W 


The above is one of the most interesting works which has been issued for <Jomo 
time from the Catholic press in this country. The life ana martyrdom of faint 
Cecilia, is itself, one of the mr^ btautiful chapters in the history of the Church. 
The accouut of it by Guerang^ is most touching. It combines all the spright- 
liuess of romance, with tne solid truth of history. The author is one of the 
most learned ai chaeologists that has appeared in this century, and is well kno\s B 
for many learned works. In connection with the life of Sc. Cecilia, he gives a 
graphic account of the state of the Church at the time of the persecutions undei 
the Roman Emperors. There is a beautiful description of the catacombs and of 
the usages of the Christains in paying honor to the martyrs, in reading his work 
we seem to be transferred to tneir days. The character of St. Cecilia is draws 
out in the most vivid colors, though the account is almost entirely taken fioii 
the ancient Acts, the authenticity of which is abiy vindicated by tha learned 
author. He then gives an account of the Church, built at her ow n request oo 
the spot where she suffered. This goes over a period of over si.xteen hundred 
years. It has been, du ring all that time, one of the most clearly cherished .sanctu¬ 
aries of Romo. The incinental accounts of various matters connected with the 
history of the Saint and her Church, are themselves sutilcient to give great inter¬ 
est to the volume, we hardly know which to admire most in this work—the 
information imparted on many must interesting topic.s, the healthy tone of the 
work, so well calculated to enliven faith, and cherish a devout spirit, or the 
beauty of the style of the author who nas weaved the tvhole into so interesting 
a narrative, that no romance can vie with this truthful account of tha patroness 
of song .—Baltimore Catholic Mirror. 

We are glad to see that the American public have been favored with this very 
interesting work. While the name of the author is a guarantee for historical 
accuracy, and learned research, the period of which it treats is one of great in¬ 
terest to the Catholic. In these pages one can learn the manners and customs of 
the early Christians, and their sufferings, and gain no little insight into their 
daily life. The devotion to the Saints is becoming daily more practical, and we 
are glao to see revived the memory of the ancient heroes and heroines whom the 
Church has honored in a special manner. The mechanical execution of the 
American edition is very good .—Catholic Standard. 

We cannot aufflciently admire and commend to the attention of our readers, 
young and old, this delightful work. The tenderness and exquisite retinemeul 
and purity which surround, like a veil, the character of tne lovely St. Cecilia, 
■erve to throw into stronger relief the unfaltering courage by which she won tne 
crown of martyrdom. The author has made use of ali the authentic and import- 
•ct detai's connected with the life anu death of the Sainr, following the most 
approved auMiorities. The discoveries of her tomb in the ninth and sixteenth 
•eoturies form not the least interesting portion of the work, and the description 
of the church, which was once tier dwelling and the witness of her sufferings and 
triuinph.s, brings those scenes so vividly before us that Cecilia seems to belon* 
as much to our own day as to the period when young, beautiful, wealthy ana 
accomplished, the virg.n bride of the noble ValeriaB laid down her lile for tha 
martyr's ci’cwo of fail! —A Y. Tablet. 




8 


Published bj Peter F. Cunningham, 


Ml*. Cunningham, of Philadelphia, has earned a new claim on our gratitu^le T>|' 
publiuftiug the LIFE OF SAINT CECILIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR. Ph* 
Acts of her martyrdom are a monument of the wonderful ways of God, and » most 
sweet record ot Cnristian heroism, heavenly love, and prodigious constancy. 
Her very name has inspired Christianity for fifteen centuries, with courage, and 
the noblest aspirations. The work is a translation from the P'rench of ^rospef 
^leranger. We have had only time to read the title, preface, and a few pages 
befiire going to press. But we can say this much, that it was a very nappy 
thought to undertake this translation, and we know of no other book we should 
like to see in tne hands of Catholics so much as the LIFE OF SAINT C£CIL1 A. 
VIRGIN AND MARTYR.— 

' Mr. Peter P\ Cunningham has just brought out, in very a^imirable style, the * 
• Life of St. Cecilia,” from the French of the celebrated Innh. Gueranger. It 
Is dilflcult to finu a more delightful volume than this, lt^ subject is one of 
the most attractive in all the annals of the Church; and its author one of the 
most pious and gifted of modern F'rench writers; the result is one of the most 
charming contributions ever made to Catholic literature. As intimated, the 
publisher has done his part in printing, in paper, and in binding. We return 
him thanks for a copy .—Philtideiphia Unioerse, Oct. 6. 

This is a most interesting volume, truer than history and stranger than fic¬ 
tion. The author does not confine fiimself to the details of the iSaiut’s life and 
martyrdom, but describes, with the faithfulness and minuteness of an antiquary, 
the wonders of Imperial and Christian Rome—the catacombs, the basilicas, the 
manners of the times, the persecutions of the Christians, etc. The book is 
handsomely got up, and enriched with a portrait of fet. Cecilia seated at her 
harp.— N. V. Met- ^cord. 

We have received this beautiful and very interesting life of one of the most 
beautiful Saints of the Church. Tne reading public ought to be much obliged 
to the Publisher for giving them such a work. It abounds in the sublimest 
sentiments of divine love and human devotion, such as Catholics would expect 
from the life of such a Saint; and at the same time portrays the combat of rising 
Christianity and decaying paganism in the livelist colors. Such works as this 
form the proper staple of reading for all who desire to become acquainted with 
the period to which it refers, ami who cannot afford to purchase or peruse the 
more profound works of our Historians.— Western N. Y. Catholic. 

I The name of the learned and religious Abbot of Solesmes Dom. Gueranger, 
was long since made familiar and pleasant to us, in the pages of Chevalier 
Bonnetty’s learned periodical, the Annales de Philosophic ChrHienne, pub¬ 
lished in Paris. In the rages of his “Life of St. Cecilia”—which we have not 
met with in the French,—we have the same high talent devoted to other than 
liturgic themes. This is an admirable volume, well translated. The quiet 
style in which the story is told of the great honor with which Catholic ages 
have crowned St. Cecilia, is charming.—A. Y. Freeman's Journal. 



ife of Sf, Agnes of Rome, Virgin and Martyr, 


PuiAished with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 
1 vol. 18mo., neatly bound in clolh, with a beautiful steel plate Poi^ 
trait of the “Youthful Martyr of Rome.” 

Price .50 cents, 

I^^ffan's Contract wltli God In Baptism. 


TraDslat'>d fr m tho Frfnch by Rev. J M Cullen 1 vol., 18 xeo. 

Price.oO cestA 




s 


Published by Peter F. Cunninghain, 


L: 


or Bhe 8ociiiify oTJesas. 

Edit^ by Edward llealy Thoinp.son. Published with the approbation of th# 
Cloth Gilt I^ldladdplaa. 1 voL, 12mo., neat cloth, beveled, |1.50 

Phis id the best life of the Saint yet published in tbs EoKlish lacanatn 
aud sliould bo read by both the youag and old. 


'T 


T 


lie liifeof Sf. Stanislas Kostka of tlic Society 
of Jesus. 

By Edward Healy Thompson, A.M. 

Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadeiphicn 

1vol. l2mo. Cloth extra beveled. $150 

Cloth full edges.$ 2.00 

lie Life of Rlessed John Bcrclimaiis 
of the Society of Jesus. 


Translated from the French. With an appendix, givini? an account 3 f 
the miracles after death, which have been approved by the Holy See. 
From the Italian of Father Borgo, S. J. Published with the approbation 
of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadeljjhia. 1 vol. 12mo. 


Price—In cloth....jl.SO 

In cloth, gilt edge.(2.00 


The Society of Jesus, laboring in all things for the “ Greater glory of God,” 
has accomplished, if not more, as much, towards that pious object, as ever did 
any Institution of our holy religion. Actuated by that sublime and single 
motive, it has given the world as brilliant scholars, historians and men of 
science in all departments, as have ever yet adorned its annals. Nor is this by 
any means its greatest boast; it is what has been achiaved by the Society in the 
advancement of Catholicity and sanctity, that makes the brightest gem in its 
coronet. It is in that, that it is most precious in the sight of the angels of God ; 
it is for that its children will sing with them a new canticle on high. It has 
peopled heaven with a host of sainted choristers, many of them endowed with 
a world-wide fame for sanctity, and many, like Blessed Berchmans. known to 
but few beyond the pale of her order. This saintly youth, like St. Aloysins 
and St. Stanislaus, died young, but a model of that true wisdom which never 
loses sight of the end for which man is created. The work before us beauti* 
fully describes the virtues, and the exemplary life and practices of this pioas 
youth, and is richly entitled to a place in every Catholic library.—CoMoIia 
ilirror. 

Divine Life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Being an abridgment of the “MrsTicai Cm of 
B y Ven. Mary of Jesus of Aereda. 

J vol. 12mo. Cloth, extra beveled. Is Qe 

Cloth, gilt edge.... 2 60 









10 


Published by Peter F. Ounjinjjbam, 


'J'he 


Sign of the Cross in the Nineteenth Century. 


£y Mgr. Gaume, Prothonotary Apostolic. 

With the Brief of his Holiness Pope Pius IX. Translated from the French 
bv A Daughter of St. Joseph. Published with the approbation of the Eight Rev, 
Bishop of Philadelphia. 

1 vol. 12ino. Cloth. Extra beveled. Price.$1.50 

Gilt edge.$2.U0 


1 he Life of St. Augustine, Bishop, Confessor, and 
Doctor of the Church. 

By P. E. Moriarty, D.D., Ex-Assistant General, O. S. A. 
Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadel¬ 


phia. 1 vol. 12rno. 

Cloth, extra beveled, and gilt centre.f 1 50 

Cloih, gilt edge.- 00 


Tlie Life of St. 


Cliarles Borromeo. 


By Edward Healey Thompson. 

Puldished with the approbv.tion of the llight Rev. Bishop of 
Philadelphia. 1 vol. 12mo. 


Cloth, extra beveled. 50 

“ ‘‘ gilt edge. 2 CO 


T be Sociaiist’s Friend. A Beautiful Coltcc- 


tiou of Meditations and Prayers. 

Compiled and translated from approved sources, for the use of member# 
and leaders of confraternities. 1 vol. ISmo., neatly bound. 


Price —In cloth.80 cents. 

Roan embossed.$1.00 

Embossed gilt. 1.50 

Full gilt edges and sides. 2.00 

Turkey, superior extra. 3.00 


X he Month of the Sacred Heart. 


Arranged for each day of the month of June. Containing also the Areh 
Confraternity of Sacred Heart, and Father Borgo’s Novena to the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus. With the appiobation of the Right Rev. Bishop oj 
Philadelphia. 1 neat y ol. 24in& Cloth, gilt back. 

Pr'oA-.. ......fiOeeaU, 


T. he Ark of the People. 

With Preface by the Ver}’^ Rev. P. E. Moriarty, D.D. 1 vol., 

12mo, cloth extra, beveled. $2 00 















29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia, 11 


ItlontSi of SJ. .Voscp^li. 

Arranged for each day of the month of March. Frcra the French of the 
Rov. Father Iluguet, of the “Society of St. Mary.” Pnbiisbed wiih the 
approbation of the RigH Rev. Bishop of PhilaMlphia. 1 neat vol. 
ISmo. Cloth, gilt back. 

Price. 50 cents. 

An attentive perusal« f this little work will prove, with a sincere utterance of 
the prayers contained therein, a powerful means to reform one’s life. Let us 
secure the friendsl ip and intercession of St. Joseph. He is the foster-fatlicr of 
oor Saviour. He can say a good word for us, Indeed. 0, the beauty of Catholic 
devotions! how its practices, when in direct connection with the life and teach¬ 
ings of Jesus Christ, fill the soul with happiness and hope!— Boston Pilot. 

This will be found to be an interesting book to all the children of Mary, and 
the lovers of her pure, saintly, and glorious spouse, Sf. Joseph. It is a good 
companion to the lovely “Mouth of May.”— New York Tablet. 

-fi. lac I..ittle OfUccs. 

Translated from the French by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. Contain¬ 
ing the Little Oflices of the Sacred Heart, Holy Ghost, Immaculate Con¬ 
ception, Our Lady of Seven Dolours, Most Holy Heart of Mary, Holy 
Angel Guardian, St. Joseph, St. Louis de Gonzaga, St. Stanislaus, St. 
Jude, Apostle. To which is added a Devout Method of Hearing Mass. 
Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadelphia. 

1 vol. ISmo. Neatly bound. 

■ Prico.cents. 

^ lie RcligloMS Soul Elevated to Perfection, 
by tlie Exercises of an Interior Life. 

From the French of the Abb5 Baudrand, author of “The Elevation of 
Soul ” 1 vol. ISmo. • 

Price .6® cents. 

H J a Iticrc dc Dicu. 

A beautiful and very edifying work on the Glories and Virtues of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God ; fron. the Italian of Father Alphonse 
Capecelatro, of the Oratory of Naples, with an Introductory Letter of 
Father Gratry, of the Paris Oratory. Published with the approbation of « 
iixQ Right Rev. Bisho}) of Philadelphia. 1 neat vol. 18mo. Cloth. 

Price .W centiu 

T lie Roman Catacombs; or, Some accouiil 
of the Burial Places of tiie Early Chris¬ 
tians In Rome. 

By Rev. J. Spencer Northcoate, M. A , wl‘h Maps and various Illnslra- 
tions. Published with the approbation of the Rigid Rev Bishop of Philos 
ielphia. 

1 vol., 16mo., neatly bound in cloth gil. back. 

Price 


$ 1.00 








Published O'j Peter F, Cunningham, 

J bettors Addressed lo a Protestant Friend. 

By a Catholic Priest. Witli a Preface by the Right Rev. Bishop Becxen 

1 vol. 12mo. Cloth extra beveled.. 

^3liarity and TrutSi; or, Catholics not un» 
charitable in saying that None are 
Saved out of the Catholic Church. 

By the Bev. Edward Hawarden. 

Published with the approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop of Philadtlphia. 

I Tol. 12mo. 

Price —Neatly bound in cloth... fl.26 

In this hook, the learned and earnest author discusses a questioc^if vital im« 
ptrtanco to all, viz,: Is there salvation out of the Catholic Communion? At 
the present moment, when the strongest proof of Christianity, in the popular 
opinion, is a belief that every road leads to heaven, and that every man who 
lives a moral life is sure to be saved, the very title of this book will grate 
harshly on many ears. To such wo Wjuld say—Read the work, and learn that 
“ a charitable judgment may be ver/unfavorable, and a favorable judgment 
may be very uncharitable ” “Charity and Truth” is the work of one of the 
ablest controversialists and most learned theologians of the Catholic Church in 
England. The method adopted in “Charity and Truth” is the catechetical, a'jd 
to help the memory the questions are set in large characters at the top c/ eat a 
page. In the preface, the Reverend reviewer takes up and disposes of six 
vulgar errors,—1st. That it is charity to suppose all men saved whose life is 
morally honest. 2d. That the infinite goodness of God will not suffer the 
greater part of mankind to perish. 3d. That it is charity to believe the Jews 
and Turks are saved. 4th. That if I judge more favorably of the salvation of 
another man than he does of mine, I am the more charitable of the two. 6th. 
That, setting all other considerations apart, if Protestants judge more favor¬ 
ably of the salvation of Catholics than Catholics do of theirs, Protestants are 
on the more charitable side. 6th. That he is uncharitable whoever supposes 
that none are saved in any other religion unless they are excused-by invinci¬ 
ble ignorance.—Jfet. Record. 

A History of England, 

For The Young. 

Compiled by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, for the use of theb 
schools in England, and republished for the use of the Catholic Schools ia 
the United States. 

1 vol. 12 mo..80 cts 

This is an admirable compendium of English history, deserving a place in al) 
our scnools. It is well arranged for a class book, having genealogical tables, a 
good index, and questions for each c\i 3 .yter.—Catholic Mirror. 

This is a most valuable little book, giving just sufficienr information to interest 
and attract the young without wearying them with superabundance of dales which 
they rarely remember, and dry statistics which they never read unless compelled 
to do so. (a ino5t injudicious proce.ss,) while by means of excellent genealogical 
■ nd chronological taoles, it furnishes to those disposed to seek it, ample instrur- 
lion and it will most probably inspire in the mind of an intelligent child, the 
wish to rea 1 more extended works. We 'aKe pleasure in commemiing this 
‘ History of England” to the attention of all those interested in proviuing agree- 
i)l® menns of ioTprovement to children.—A Y. TabUt. 





CATHOLIC TAI.es. 



cecb BlaflT. 


War. 


A Tale of tlie Soutli Before (lie 


1 Tol. 12mo. 


h ernclifle. 


By Fannie Warner. 

Cloth extra beveled... Sl.r>o 

Cloih fiilt ediie.... 


Ti 


A Catholic Tale of prreot merit 1 volume 12mo. 

Price—Cl .ith, exira beveled... *i 3 * 

Cloth, gilt edges... 1)0 

ic Ulonfarges Facgacy. 

A CbarniiDg Catholic Tale, by Floreuce McCoomb, (Mias Meline, of Waahiufl’ 
to«,) 1 Tolume, small 12mc. * 




Price—Cloth, extia beveled. *1 on 

Cloth, gilt. 


race Jtlorfon 5 or, The BiilierHance. 


A Dew and beautiful Catholic tale, written by Miss Meaney of Philadelphia. 
1 vol., largo ISino., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price.$1.00 

This is a pleasing story, instructive as well as amusing, and worth an espe¬ 
cial place in the library of youthful Catholics. It depicts witli rare skill the 
trials and sacrifices which attend the profession of the true Faith, and which 
are so often exacted of us by the fosteriug solicitude of our Mother the Church. 
—Catholic Mirror'. 

A chastely written Catholic tale of American life, which is most pleasantly 
narrated ; and conveys much that is instructive and elevating .—truth American. 

f HI 

.K be Knout; a Tale of Poland. 


Translated from the French by Mrs. J. Sadlier. 

1 vol., large 18mo., neatly bound in cloth, gilt back, with frontispiece. 

Price.fi.oo 



aura and Anna; 


or, Tbe Effect of Faitb on 


tbe Character. 

A beautiful tale, translated from the French by a young lady, a GraduaU 
of St. Joseph’s, Emmlttsburg. 

1 vol. 18mo., neatly bound in cloth. 

Price .60 cent* 

lie Confessors of Connaught; or, The Ten¬ 
ants of a Lord Bishop. 

A tale of Evictions in Ireland. By Miss Meaney, author of ** Grace Mor¬ 
ton.” 

Small 12mo., cloth. 

Price.ti-Oo 

Read this bouk and you will have a feeling knowledge of the sufferings 
•ttr bretli ren ’u the Isle of Saints .—Boston Pilot. 













t4 Publiblied by Peter F. Cunnin;^bam, 

THE “YOUNG CATHOLIUS LIBRARY 


BEAUTIFUL CATHOLIC TALES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 


FIRST SERIES. 

6 NEAT 18mo VOLS, CLOTH, EXTRA, 50 CENTS EACH. 

1. cottage Evening Tales, for Young People. 

2. Children of the Valley; or, The Gfiost of the Ruins. 

3. May Carleton*s Story, and The Miller’s Daughter. 

4. JThilip Hartley ; or, A Boy’s Trials and Triumphs. 

5. Count Leslie; or. The Triumphs of P'dial Piety. 

O. A Eather’a Tales of the French Itevolution, 


SECOND SERIES. 

6 NEAT 18mo VOLS., CLOTH, EXTRA, 50 CENTS EACH. 

1. Riilph Eerrien. Tales of the French Revolution. 

2- Silver Orange and Fhillipine. Two charming Tales. 

3. Helena Eutler. A Story of the Rosary. 

4. Charles and Frederick. By Rev. John P. Donnolloo. 

5. The Eeauforts, A Story of the Alleghanies. 

G, Lauretta and the Fables. A charming little book. 


THIRD SERIES. 

6 NEAT 18mo VOLS., CLOTH, EXTRA, 50 CENTS EACH. 

1. Conrad and Gertrude.'- A lovely Swiss Tale. 

2. Three Fetitions. A Tale of Poland. 

3. Alice; or. The Rose of the Black Forest. 

4. Caroline; or, Self-Conquest. A Book for Young Girls. 

5. Stories of the Commandments. Eiglit charming Tales. 

6. The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy. Seven Tales. 


FOURTH SERIES. 

6 NEAT 18aro VOLS., CLOTH, EXTRA, 50 CENTS EACH 

1. Elinor Johnston. A Story of great interest. 

2. The Queen’s Daughter ; or, the Orphan of La Granjsu 

3. Hetty Homer. By Fanny Warner. 

4. The. Beverly Family. By Hon. Jos. R. Chandler. 

5. Aunt Fanny’s 1‘resent ; or. Book of Fairy Talea, 

G. Woodland Cottage, and Other Tales. 







15 


29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia. 

11 avvthopndean; op, Philip Benton’s Family. 

A Tale of every day life. 

By Mrs. Clara M. Thompson, 

Author of ^-RerAnry of Moreland;' “ Chapel of St Afarv,” rfc. 

1 voi. 12nio. Clotti, extra beveled, and gilt centre. 

“ “ “ Gilt edges. 


|1 50 
2 00 


Cineas; or, Rome under Nero. 

By J .M. Villefranche, 


1 TOl. 12mo. Cloth. Extra beveled. . .81.50 

Gilt edge.12.00 


This charming story of the time of Nero—the burning of Rome under th.-*! 
tyrant, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the most cruel persecution of the 
Christians, is of that class of beautiful Chriatian novels, of which FuOiola was 
the first, and is considered one of the best yet written. 


jrV.lphonso; or, the Triumph of Religion. 

1 vol. small 12 mo. neat cloth. Price. 81.00 


We have the pleasure to announce another of Mr. Cunningham’s works, Al- 
phonso, or the Triumph of Religion. It contains everything calculated lo instruct 
aad edify at the same time, and we think it a work that will be read with 
great pleasure by all our readers .—Spare Ilourt. 

The scenes of this book are laid in France, but the moral applies with equal 
force to our own country. The work is intended to show tho evil effects of an 
irreligious education, and does so with great force and effect. The tale is from 
the pen of a gifted Irish lady, and well worth reading. Tho.se who are sluggish 
in their response to our Most Rev. Archbishop’s recent call in behalf of an In¬ 
dustrial School, should take a lesson from this valuable little hoo]L.•-Laltimort 
Catholic Mirror. 


]\Xaplon Howapd; op, Trials and Tpiumphs. 

A Tale of great merit. 1 vol., large 12mo, cloth extra, 

beveled. 

Cloth gilt. 


82 00 
2 60 


Adel 


ine de Chazal; op, First Experience of the 
World after Leaving School. 


1 vol., 12mo, cloth extra, beveled. $1 ,50 

Cloth gilt. 2 00 











16 


Published by Peter F. Cunn'ngham. 
PRAYER BOOKS. 

FLOWEK GARDEN. 

An aciniirable small Prayer Book. Contains Morning and Evenln* 
Players, Mass Prayers, Ordinary of the Mass, (in Latin and EngliBh,) 
Vespers, Fortj- Hours Devotion, Stations of the Cros.s, and a great viv< 
ricty of other practical devotions, all together forming the most com- 
pi ele small Prayer Book yet printed. 1 vol., 32mo. 

No. 1, Neat cloth, variet 3 r of nice bright colors.fO 45 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edge.0 80 

3, “ “ “ and clasp.1 oo 

4, “ full gilt edges and sides.l 00 

5, “ “ *• *• and clasp. 1 25 

FLOWER GARDEN, 32mo., fine edition^ printed on the finest quality 
of paper, and made up in the neatest and very best manner ; 

No. 6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, stiff or flexible.52 60 

7, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, with clasp. 2 7-5 

8, Turkej^ super extra, rims and clasp.4 00 

9, Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, very neat.2 7 ) 

10, “ ‘‘ with clasp.. 3 00 

11, “ “ rims and clasp.4 .50 

12, Velvet, full ornaments, rims, clasps and ovals... 6 00 

LITTLE FLOWER GARDEN. 

A beautiful miniatm-e Prayer Book. 48mo. Containing a selection 
of practical devotions, and made up in a variety of beautifui siylcM 
of binding, 

No. 1, Neat cloth, variety of plain and bright colors.. .$0 20 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edges.0 40 

3, “ full gilt edges and sides.0 5o 

4, ‘‘ tucks, very neat. 0 CO 

6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges. 1 60 

6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, with 

fine gilt clasp. 1 75 

7, Turke.y, super exti-a, rims and clasp.2 50 

8, Calf, extra, red or gilt edges, very neat. 1 75 

9, “ “ “ “ with clasp.2(0 

10. “ “ rims and clasp.3 00 

DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR CATHOLICS. 

An admirable small Prayer Book. 32mo.. with very large t 5 pe, 
(English,) good for theshort-sighted, and for all who like to read ■(» Yk 
ease, wiihout the necessity of using glasses. 

No. 1, Neat cloth, variety of nice bright cclors.$0 45 

2, Roan, embossed, gilt edge.o SO 

3, “ “ “ and clasp. 1 00 

4, “ full gilt edges and sides.1 OC 

5, “ “ “ “ and clasp. 1 26 

G, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, stiff or flexible. 2 50 

7, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides, red 

or gilt edges, with clasp.2 75 

8. Turkey, super extra, rims and clasp...4 00 

' Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, very neat.2 7.5 

1./, “ “ “ with clasp.8 00 

11. “ “ “ rims and clasp.-i 60 

12. Velvet, full ornatnents, rims, clasps and ova’s... 6 'JO 

































17 


29 South Tenth Street, Philadelphia. 
MANUAL OF DEVOTION. 

An excellent a2rao. Prayer Book, with illustralions of the Mass. 
No. 1. Neat cloth, a '/'ariety of plain and bright colors.$0 3o 


2, lloan, euiljoBSjd gilt edges.0 liO 

3, “ “ und clasp.0 8) 

4, ‘‘ full gilt edges and sides.0 8) 

5, “ ‘ “ and elasp. 1 OO 

6, Turkey, super extra, full gilt or plain sides.2 Oa 

7, “ “ rims and clasp.3 '0 

8, Calf, extra, stiff or flexible, bound very neat.2 75 

9, “ “ ‘ and clasp. 3 1 0 

10, “ rims and clasp. 4 00 


DAILY EXERCISE. 

A beautiful miniature Prayer Book. 4Smo., with illustrations o‘ ih 4 

JUats. 


No. 1, Neat cloth a variety of choice colors.$0 ro 

2, lioan, embossed, gilt edge. 0 4) 

3, “ full gill edge and sides.0 50 

4, “ tucks, verj’ neat.0 60 

6. Turkey, super extra. i ,50 

6, •* “ tucks. 1 50 

7, “ “ rims and clasp. 2 50 

8, Calf, extra. 1 7.> 

9, “ with clasp.2 (0 

10, “ rims and clasp.3 00 

The Hymn Book. 


Thr. Hymn-Bock —1801 h thousand—the most popular little Hymn Book 
ever published Contains also, Prayers for the Mass, Prayers for Con* 
fes.sion and Communion, and Serving of Mass. 13 cents each,or $10 per 
hundred ; cloth, 20 cents, or $1 80 jier dozen. 

The Gospels. 

For Sundays and Principal Festiv als during tbc year, together with 
the Four Gospels of tlie Ibission for Palm Sunday and lloly Week. 
1 vol. 2mo. Paper cover 10 cts , or per dozen, .$l iO 

Confirmation and Communion Certificates. 

The subscriber lias hud prepared very beautiful certificates of Coixjir- 
mulion and First Oonirni/nton. giving also exterior and interior views 
of tlie Cathedral of Philadelphia. These are the most beaut iful certifi¬ 
cates ever published in this country, and are sold at low rates to the 
Reveren 1 Clergy and others who buy in quantity, iji» 00 per hundred 

Angels’ Sodality. 

Manual of the Holy Angels Sodality. Price, in cloth, flexible. $12 50 
per hundred, or $1 fO per dozen 

Diplomas for Membership) of the Angels^ Sodality. Beautiful design 
$1 Oj per dozen 

Blessed Virgin’s Sodality Diploma. 

A Very Beautiful Diploma for Members of the f^odality of the Ble*%efl 
Virgin Mary, size of plate l,x o, has just been prei)ared by tlie umici* 
signed Orders respectfully solicited. The name of the Church and 
title of the Sodality inserted to ord r. 

Catechisms. 

Butter s large and small Catechisms. The general Catechism of the 
National Council. Tuberv’iile s Catechism, Dr. Dojde’.s Catechisms, 
Fleury B Catecliism and The Catholic Christian Instructed Suppliect 
Wholesale and Retail. And many other Catliolic Doctrinal Works. 

Orders respectfully solicited. 

PETER F. CUNNINGHAM fc SON, 

Fublis/iers 29 S. Tenth St, I’hiUL 






















18 


Published'by Peter F. Cunningham. 


on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

By the Abb6 Edward Barthe. Published with the approbation of th* 
Right Rev. Bishop of PJiiladelphia. 1 vol., 12mo. 


Cloth, extra beveled.$l fi® 

Cloth, gilt.. S 00 



MESSENGER SERIES. 

[Attention is respectfully called to this series of beautiful works, originally 
prepared for the Messenger of the Sacred Heart, and now offered to the public 
in handsome 12mo vols. We recommend ever^ Catholic family to procure 
the “ Messenger Series.”] 


1. Leandro; or, The Sign of the Cross. 

A beautiful Catholic 'I’ale. 1 vol.. 12mo. 


Cloth, extra beveled.tl 50 

Cloth, gilt.. 2 OC 


2. Simon Peter and Simon Magus. 

A Legend of the early days of Christianity in Rome. By Rev. John 
Joseph Franco, S. J. *1 vol., 12mo. 

Cloth, extra beveled.$1 50 

Cloth, gilt. - ^ 

3. The Acts of the Early Martyrs. 

By the Rev. J. A. M. Fastr6, S. J. First series. 1 vol., 12mo. 

Cloth, extra beveled.Jt 50 

Cloth, gUL........... 00 


4 . 


5. 


1 he Acts of the Early Martyrs. 

By the Rev. J. A M. Fastre, S. J. Second Series. 4 yd., 12nno. 


Cloth, extra beveled.....ft 50 

Cloth, gilt.... 2 00 




Ihe Acts of the Early Martyrs. 

By the Rev. J. A. M. Fastre, Third Sei'ies. 
.Cloth, extra beveled. 


1 vol., 12mo. 


Cloth, gilt.. 


• MOO ••••«•••• 




|I 60 
2 00 


6. Tigranes. 

A Tale of the Days of Julian the Apostate. Abridged 
from the Italian of Father John Jo.seph Franco, S. J. 

1 vol., 12mo, cloth extra, beveled, gilt centre. $l 50 




















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